Mortal Legends
by AlexaMae22
Summary: For years, Mewtwo has been living peacefully in Cerulean City, guarding one of the few gates that lead directly into the Hall of Origin. But when he rescues a teenage girl—with powers no human should possess—from her Team Rocket pursuers, he finds himself with a new mission
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

_Run._

It was all she could think to do; Vesta had to stay ahead of her pursuers, she could not afford to be surrounded. Fighting them off one at a time would be easy. All at once would be difficult but still possible, so long as they continued attacking from one direction themselves. But if she turned around to launch just one attack, they'd scatter and circle her.

Her physical endurance had given up long ago. She had no choice but to use the powers forced into her body to allow her to keep running, but doing so made her shine like a beacon in the dark, dense forest; even more so now that it was the middle of the night! It didn't help that she left a melted and scorched trail on the once snowy ground behind her as she ran.

_Damn! They're catching up!_ She could hear them behind her, they may just be a bunch of grunts with a few admins, but endurance-wise, training was equal in all members of Team Rocket. Vesta on the other hand, felt her lungs burning, and her legs ready to give out!

* * *

Mewtwo was gazing down from a rooftop upon the lights and buildings of Cerulean City. So late at night there was little activity on the streets, a few taxis picking up late night partiers and some couples strolling along the sidewalks looking through the windows of the few stores and cafes that remain open at such an hour; it was near midnight.

What Mewtwo enjoyed most was the park just down the road; in the beginning of December, the city council along with Gym Leader Misty would decorate the trees and trail lampposts with festive decorations befitting this time of year. Almost every town or city would do this, however in some of the larger cities, there was too much chaos in all the flashing and blinking lights and animated decorations; waving Santa Clause statues and such. It was too distracting. But in Cerulean Park – with the fountain as the centerpiece and the large Christmas tree behind it, all the lights giving off nothing more than a steady glow—they gave Mewtwo a warm, calm feeling.

Mewtwo remembered, a couple years back, when he first saw the setup. He'd seen these decorations many times before, but he was so mesmerized with how the simple lights and decorations worked together to make the park feel so welcoming. It struck his curiosity, and next thing he knew, he was perched in a tree in the park, hidden by the branches; he didn't dare take a closer look at the display than that. At night, for nearly the entire month, when human activity in the park was at a minimum, Mewtwo would choose that peaceful area to collect his thoughts. That was his routine, and no one bothered him, because no one could see him.

Or so he thought…

On the night of that Christmas Eve, nearing midnight, a lone human came into the park—cloaked so Mewtwo couldn't see their face—and made a beeline for the tree that he was in. He braced himself; ready to fight, or flee—taking the human's memories with him—when the human stopped under the tree and looked up, directly at him.

It was Misty, and she was carrying a package. Mewtwo's shoulders dropped in relief, she is a friend of course; too much had happened on New Island and—more importantly—Mount Quena to state otherwise. Misty held up the package to him and he reached down to retrieve it—it was obviously a gift, and Mewtwo felt it would not be as meaningful had he'd merely used his psychic powers to levitate it from her hands and into his. Opening the package he discovered it was a cloak, much like the one she was wearing.

Misty asked him if he'd like a closer look at all the decorations, so Mewtwo put on the cloak and felt it was now safe enough to leave the hidden shelter of the tree to admire the park up close. As it turned out, she saw him one evening entering the tree and thought it was going to be just that one half-second glimpse of "the legendary Mewtwo" for the next few years. But then her attention was focused on that tree for a while, and early one morning, she saw him leaving it. So, given the time of year, she bought the cloak and kept it with her until the next time she was sure he was in the park again.

Mewtwo looked back on that night fondly, and to this day, Misty remained aware of Mewtwo's presence in Cerulean City, because she knew the true identity of Matthew, who is the current owner of a cabin, on the outskirts of the city, sitting at the base of the mountain near the entrance to Cerulean Cave. Transform; it was a little trick that Mew taught him that very same Christmas (Misty's suggestion) so he could blend and mingle in the crowds. He didn't mind the solitude, or rather, his Mew side didn't, it was his human side that craved the presence of others; it was why Mewtwo constantly found himself in large cities surrounded by all the noise, he couldn't help it.

Lost in thought and reminiscing about the past, Mewtwo almost missed the bright light in the distance, at the corner of his vision, streaking its way through the forest on the mountain. _Fire type on a rampage?_ He kept his eye on it, but it didn't seem to be starting any wild fires so Mewtwo didn't feel inclined to rush to investigate. Instead, he flew cautiously through the air, using the rooftops as cover, only to gradually pick up speed as the fiery light was making a mad dash closer and closer to his cabin.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

_This is it_, she thought to herself. Vesta was exhausted, she could feel herself slowing down, could hear Team Rocket crashing through the bushes behind her, and as far as she could tell, she was still in the middle of nowhere. The last few embers of her unwanted power flickered out, the warmth of them abandoning her, and the unforgiving cold of winter setting in. Tears welled in her eyes as hopelessness stabbed her heart, _I'm sorry…it was all for nothing,_ Vesta stumbled her last few steps gasping for breath, never feeling like she was getting enough air; her legs buckled and she began to fall to the ground.

Before she actually face-planted in the snow however, something came rushing at her—low to the ground—from the corner of her vision and caught her; a cloaked figure. _The Grim Reaper,_ Vesta thought darkly to herself. After breaking her fall, the figure did not stop in it's movements and continued to glide low to the ground, using the low bushes for cover—carrying Vesta with it—and shot up a pine tree.

Now, despite her exhaustion, she fought with everything she had to stay awake, _What just happened?_ She felt a hand over her mouth so of course her first instinct was to try and struggle out of it.

"Shh!" the cloaked figure hissed—it really did sound more like a hiss than a shush. Vesta stilled. She found it unnerving that she didn't get a good look at who or what had just caught her, and she couldn't see it now with the way it was holding her. But judging by the feel of the large hand covering her mouth, it was definitely not human.

Vesta still hadn't caught her breath and was forced to breathe heavily through her nose, and as the cold continued to bite at her body, she began to tremble. Other than that, she could do no more than watch through the protective screen of branches and needles sheltering her and her assumed rescuer as Team Rocket caught up to the area where she nearly fell. They were far enough away that she dared to hope they couldn't hear her breathing.

"Where is she?" one admin demanded as he approached the area. He was obviously the one in command, and judging from the scowl on his face, he was about to blow his top. That gave Vesta some relief; they did not see her get swept away. But that did not mean the cloaked figure wasn't a threat to her either, she shuddered at the thought.

"Sir, we've lost the trail," a grunt answered meekly, "it just ends right here."

"A trail like that doesn't 'just end'," the admin retorts, "she can't have just disappeared." He turns to the rest of the group, "Spread out! Find the trail! Quickly!"

Vesta whimpered as she felt the cloaked figure tense and was reprimanded with another, more quiet, hissing 'shush'. Her body was quaking at this point, and she couldn't tell anymore if it was from fear, or from the freezing chill sinking into her body.

* * *

Team Rocket was getting closer, they hadn't found the trail, but Mewtwo was certain that if they paused for two seconds to cease the crunching of snow under their feet, they would surely hear the girl's laboured breathing. Her body was shaking relentlessly, full of a fear so potent, Mewtwo knew it wouldn't be long before one of the Houndours or even Ratattas would pick it up.

Mewtwo held his gaze on one grunt as he stopped in front of the tree to look around, they were only just above his eye level. Mewtwo felt the girl freeze in his arms and heard her hold her breath; he snuck a glance at her and noticed the terror in her eyes as she looked down at the grunt. Mewtwo began to slowly, painstakingly, peel himself away from her, ready to transform into a Gallade and fight their way out when, in the distance, police sirens could be heard, and they were approaching fast!

Shouts and curses could be heard as the commanding admin flew into a violent rage when he realized they were out of time to find and capture the girl. But they regrouped fast, and by the time the police arrived in the forest, Team Rocket had disappeared.

"We need to find out where that light came from!" Officer Jenny called out to the policemen, "We must make sure that this isn't Team Rocket activity, and we must find the suspects!"

"Yes ma'am!" The policemen said in unison.

There was a howl from Jenny's Growlithe as it found the trail Team Rocket left in the snow from their retreat, "That way!" Jenny ordered, "Take the lead Growlithe!"

The Growlithe nodded and sped off into the forest, in the opposite direction of the pine tree, leading the Cerulean Police Force with it.

Mewtwo, let out that breath he was holding, and felt the girl's body relax, and return to trembling, as she did the same. Loosening his grip on her, he felt her move her head to look up at his face, and he looked down to meet her eyes. She held his gaze, but her mind didn't seem to be registering what her eyes were seeing. The girl was still breathing heavily from her endeavor, and managed a few more deep breaths through her mouth, before her head lolled back as the exhaustion finally took her and she passed out in Mewtwo's arms.

Then, Mewtwo realized, he had real reason to worry, the girl's body was still shivering, and he could easily deduce now that it was not from fear. Quickly, he removed his cloak and wrapped it around her body in attempt to preserve what little warmth remained. Then, holding her tightly in his arms, he flew out of the tree and sped in the direction of his cabin.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

When Mewtwo reached his house, the first thing he did after entering was take the girl directly into the living room and use his powers to levitate some logs into the stone fireplace and spark a flame. While the flames were building he set some cushions on the floor close to the warmth of the fire and readied some blankets next to it. Before laying the girl on the warming cushions, it was necessary to remove the wet clothing, which was rather easy, the clothing that was covering her forearms, shoulders, and calves, had all been scorched away. A few minor cuts later with his powers was all it took to get the ruined clothing off her and lay her on the now warm cushions and layer all the blankets on her, finally fitting a thick, wool toque on her head.

Mewtwo's house wasn't large and grand, but it certainly wasn't small either. The front door faced towards the city and lead to a small entryway. To the right of the entry was an access to the kitchen, both of which could lead to the large living room, which had a door to the outside facing the mountain. There was a hallway that lead to either side of the house; down the hall left of the entry were 2 bedrooms and a staircase that led down into the basement where Mewtwo—admittedly—had his own lab set up, and down the other end of the hall were 2 more bedrooms and a bathroom.

Mewtwo looked down at the shivering girl; she couldn't have been more than 15-16 years old, her drying hair was most likely auburn, but it took on an almost fiery red in the light of the fire. Her skin was also a ghostly pale, but that was most likely due to her condition.

Mewtwo wasn't too sure what else there was to do, other than monitor her condition. He walked to the bathroom and grabbed the thermometer from the medicine cabinet and placed the tip in her mouth. When the thermometer beeped, Mewtwo pulled it out and read the measurement: 98.2°F. _That doesn't make sense, the reading is within the normal range, but she shows all signs of hypothermia._ He considered what he saw as he was following her through the woods in her flight from Team Rocket. _Those flames…she had been emitting them for sure, but how? Furthermore, could her fire-type abilities have raised her natural body temperature?_ It occurred to Mewtwo that her symptoms of hypothermia actually happened not too long after her flames had extinguished,_ Everything linked to her abilities resembles the behavior of a fire-type pokemon. _If Team Rocket was responsible for this girl's powers, then exactly what had they done to her? Mewtwo dreaded the notion that he had an idea.

Mewtwo considered calling Misty, but what could she do? Would she have any more of an idea than he about how to handle this situation? Team Rocket was still in the area too no doubt, already searching undercover in the nearest hospitals, clinics, police stations and other buildings entered with the intention of seeking help, including the Cerulean Gym.

Calling Misty now, in the middle of the night, would be too risky. It would cause suspicion in any member of Team Rocket that saw her. He could teleport directly into her room and bring her back here, but she wouldn't take kindly to that for one thing, and for another, Mewtwo kept the use of his psychic powers to a minimum anytime Team Rocket was in the area.

Mewtwo relented and accepted his fate. He was in for a long night looking after the unconscious girl in his living room. He would call Misty in the morning.

* * *

Looking after the girl was simple enough, it was just rather dull. Her breathing was so shallow that Mewtwo couldn't take his eyes off her for more than a minute. Staying in one place for hours on end is nothing new to him, but under normal circumstances, he'd have spaced out long ago, shutting out the world and "brooding" as Misty calls it. Mewtwo actually began to discover how it felt to almost fall asleep from boredom.

Mewtwo looked at the clock, 4:00am, Misty would be up at 7:00am. _Only a few hours left_, Mewtwo reasoned with himself, but inwardly he groaned. Putting a few more blocks of wood on the fire, he decided to check the girl's temperature again. When he looked at the reading, Mewtwo felt his heart jump to his throat 38.8°C…_Celsius!_ He'd accidently hit the button to change the metric reading, Mewtwo let out a sigh of relief, _But still, that's about 102°F, by all rights she should be feverish now._ But if her body was reacting as though it was below the normal internal temperature, then so be it. He put one more block of wood on the fire for good measure.

Mewtwo rubbed his eyes and chuckled to himself, he'd actually scared himself awake, waiting till 7:00 didn't seem so difficult anymore.

* * *

Finally, at 7:02 Mewtwo picked up his phone to call Misty. Surprisingly, she answered right away, "Hey Matthew, what's up?" She sounded tired though

"I didn't just wake you up did I?" Mewtwo asked.

"No, no, Team Rocket's been sighted in the area, according to the police they tried to burn down the mountain, bit of a leap in my opinion. They searched for a few hours then woke me up at 3:00 this morning because they needed help searching the city while they were also patrolling the mountain."

_So I could've called her sooner…_ "Are you busy now? You sound like you could use a coffee." Mewtwo didn't actually drink coffee, but he did have a supply for whenever she came to visit.

"Sounds great, where should we meet?"

"Just come over to my place, I'll get a pot brewing."

"I'll head right over."

Mewtwo hung up, got the coffee brewing, and returned to the living room. The girl's breathing became relatively normal, Mewtwo checked her temperature again, 105°F, he rolled his eyes; this was getting ridiculous.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Misty showed up about 10 minutes later, she knocked and Mewtwo psychically opened the door from his position in the living room, "Jeepers Mewtwo! Are you trying to slow roast yourself or something!?" Mewtwo couldn't help but smirk at that, he could hear Misty taking off her jacket and boots before meeting him in the living room.

"So yeah, Team Rocket was in the area, but it didn't seem like they reached your house. I doubt their presence actually escaped you though." Misty said, before her eyes locked on the girl on the floor.

"You are correct," Mewtwo said.

"Who's she?"

"Grab your coffee, you'll need it for this." Mewtwo said sitting down on one side of the girl.

Misty went into the kitchen and returned a minute later with her cup. Kneeling down on the other side of the girl, she looked over at Mewtwo, "You found her last night?" Mewtwo nodded, "She looks really sick, why didn't you drop her off at a hospital?"

"Because Team Rocket was after her. I saw her running from them when I was following the source of the light," Mewtwo explained, "Taking her to a hospital was not an option."

"So even you saw that light last night, and went to investigate." Misty commented, "Then you found her, knew it was too dangerous to take her to a hospital, and so you kept her here, and treated her yourself instead?"

Mewtwo nodded, "She's hypothermic, I've done what I could, but until she wakes up, there is little else to do but monitor her condition."

Misty hummed in agreement, then reached forward and placed her hand on the girl's forehead. Mewtwo braced himself as Misty widened her eyes, "Mewtwo, that's not hypothermia! She has a fever!"

Misty began to rapidly move the blankets off the girl but Mewtwo grabbed her wrist to stop her. She was about to make some retort at him before they both noticed the girl move, curling up her body and shivering again under the last blanket. Quickly, Mewtwo replaced all the blankets as Misty stared in shock.

"You said the police believe Team Rocket attempted to set fire to Cerulean mountain?"

Misty nodded dumbly, looking over at Mewtwo, "They…they managed to find some people in city that were undercover Team Rocket agents. But so far the police haven't received any information, nor have they found who was responsible for all the scorch marks in the forest…"

Mewtwo looked at Misty pointedly as he gestured down at the girl. Misty's eyes widened even further in disbelief as Mewtwo explained, "She seems to have abilities and, evidently, conditions that mirror those of a fire type pokemon."

"What is her temperature right now?" Misty asked.

"Last I checked, she was at 105 degrees Fahrenheit." Mewtwo answered, "But at the rate it has been going up, she'll probably around 106 degrees within the hour." He paused to assess his growing theory before continuing, just to make sure he wasn't missing something plainly obvious, "No human can just randomly be born with this power, and Team Rocket can't have just happened upon the one human who does possess it."

The ominous tone in Mewtwo's voice seemed to unnerve Misty, "Just…what are you saying, Mewtwo?" she asked, her voice wavering.

"Team Rocket has been experimenting on humans." Mewtwo answered, "It wouldn't be the first time, but I didn't expect them to have made it this far in their research…at least not without me."

"So there's a chance that they might've remembered you?" Misty said, a growing look of fear on her face, "And now, instead of taking a pokemon's DNA and adding human DNA to it, and cloning a body from that—."

"Team Rocket is mutating humans through the use of pokemon DNA." Mewtwo finished, "But this is all an assumption on my part, we need to hear the story from her. We need to know what she knows."

Misty tapped her head and Mewtwo made the telepathic connection, _Do you need to report this to Arceus?_ she asked. So far, only she, Ash and Brock were aware of Mewtwo's connection to the Hall of Origin. The entrance to the Hall lay in the deepest and most hidden part of Cerulean Cave. And Mewtwo acted as its gatekeeper. It was something he mentioned to them once, and forbade them from ever speaking about out loud, and they were only ever allowed to mention it in his presence through _his_ telepathy.

_Most likely. If I am right, then Team Rocket is once again upsetting the balance of nature; 'playing God'__—or Arceus, if you will,_ Mewtwo answered, he looked back down at the girl, _but I need to give him more than mere assumptions and hypotheses._

Misty sighed, "Well, for starters, you should get some sleep. I can take it from here."

Standing, Mewtwo nodded and started in the direction of his bedroom. Glancing back at Misty, "Come and wake me if anything changes," he told her. She nodded and Mewtwo continued down the hall past the kitchen to his room at the end.

It was strange how Mewtwo never realized it sooner—maybe too many distractions, or using human behaviour as an influence to his own—but he was actually nocturnal. Mewtwo used to think his comfort at the idea of wandering only at night, in the shadows of the moonlight, was due to the fact that it was easier to remain hidden from the prying eyes of those who would judge him and his fellow clones for what they were. And he couldn't understand why only a few of the other clones agreed with him, while most didn't, until he found the common denominator. Of the clones that agreed, each of their species, as a whole, were naturally nocturnal, so when Mewtwo inquired with Mew about her own sleeping habits, he found it was the same.

So, as the morning sun continued to rise to wake those who were diurnal, Mewtwo shut the curtains to keep the rays out, while he curled up on the soft bed and thick comforter, and fell asleep.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

When Mewtwo woke up to his alarm at 5:00PM, he could hear Misty shuffling about in the kitchen. He rolled onto his back and replayed the events of last night. The girl he rescued was terrified of Team Rocket, and Mewtwo had the impression at the time that she wasn't too sure about him either.

The girl could wake up any time now, so when she did, Mewtwo felt it was best for him to be in his human form—at least until he knew he could trust her.

As Mewtwo was getting dressed, he glanced at his human form in the mirror. Looking back at him was a man in his mid-twenties, with shaggy, light-brown hair, tan skin, and violet eyes. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't get the eyes to change; if a person looked close enough, they would even notice the cat-like pupils. Mew said it was normal that something from his true form would remain—like an anchor of sorts.

Mewtwo left his room—wearing a gray T-shirt and blue jeans—and entered the living room to check on the girl. Her breathing was normal now, and her face was relaxed, as she lay semi-curled facing the fireplace.

Not wanting to disturb the girl, Mewtwo entered the kitchen. He saw Misty standing over the sink, holding a piece of fabric with some tweezers in one hand, and a lighter in another.

"What are you doing?" Mewtwo asked.

"Not trying to burn the place down, if that's what you think." Misty answered humorously, "Come over here and look at this."

She appeared to be burning the piece of fabric, holding it under the lighter's flame. But when Mewtwo took a closer look, he realised that the fabric was not blackening or setting fire at all, "Did that come off her clothes?"

"Yeah, I was curious," Misty explained, "You told me that she has some fire type abilities, and judging from the photos I saw of the scorch marks in the forest, I began to wonder how her clothes weren't incinerated while she was running from Team Rocket."

"There's an image," Mewtwo commented dryly.

Misty half-scowled at him, "_Anyways_, she must be emitting some pretty powerful flames if she can burn this. It doesn't matter how long I hold this little piece under the lighter, I don't think a Charmander could even make a mark if it tried."

Mewtwo looked back towards the living room, "Have you checked her temperature recently?"

"Yeah, she's at 109 degrees Fahrenheit now," Misty answered, putting down the lighter and tweezers, "What kind of thermometer do you have? It's alerting me to take her to a hospital."

"That was a program I put into it myself," Mewtwo answered, "It helped while I was learning the normal body temperatures of humans and various pokemon."

"Well, let's set it to a Charizard reading or something." Misty said. When Mewtwo shook his head, she lifted an eyebrow, " Why not?"

"Because it's pointless now, I know what all the temperatures are supposed to be. That program was an assist, and I don't need it anymore, I plan to take it out next chance I get."

"Well, as long as you get it's infernal beeping to stop," Misty said as she headed into the living room.

Mewtwo looked into the sink at the piece of fabric; he'd have to examine it downstairs in his lab to see what it was made of. He looked up when he heard Misty gasp, "Matthew! She's starting to wake up!"

Mewtwo left the kitchen and entered the living room to see the girl's eyes flickering open. Her unfocused gaze found Misty first, who was kneeling in front of her, "Who are—wh-where am I?" She started looking around the room nervously, and she spotted Mewtwo standing at her feet.

"It's okay, you're safe," Misty said placing her hand over the girl's reassuringly, "My name is Misty, I'm the Cerulean Gym Leader, and this is my friend, Matthew, he found you on the mountain, running from Team Rocket. He rescued you and brought you here to his house."

"Team Rocket?" She asked. It didn't sound as though she remembered anything, but from the way her eyes became more focused and a look of fear showed on her face, it was all starting to come back. Quickly, she jerked her hand away from Misty, suddenly afraid of her.

Misty appeared stunned by the sudden distrust, but she continued, "Can you tell us your name?" She asked softly.

"No, I-I can't," the girl answered.

"Do you not remember?" Mewtwo asked, the girl's eyes flashed fearfully over at him; her irises were almost a flaming red color.

_She doesn't trust us,_ Mewtwo heard Misty say in his head.

Mewtwo left to get some tea with honey for the girl. He returned to the living room a minute later, setting the mug on the coffee table in front of the sofa facing the fireplace. "Let's sit you up, the tea should help you warm up faster internally."

As Mewtwo began to help her sit up, Misty left to get another blanket to drape over her shoulders. That was when the girl became aware of her missing clothes, quickly wrapping herself in the blanket as her face reddened and she glared at Mewtwo accusingly. _That's one way to return color to her cheeks_, Mewtwo thought.

Misty jumped to his defense before the awkward situation dragged out too long, "He had to remove your clothes; not doing so would've made your condition worse."

"Besides, I saw nothing," Mewtwo added matter-of-factly. Misty seemed to resist the urge to face-palm. Attempting to escape the uncomfortable moment, Mewtwo grabbed the steaming mug on the table and offered it to the girl. She eyed it suspiciously, not even making a move to take it, "You must drink it, this will help your body temperature return to normal." Still, she no move for it.

"Give it here," Misty said, holding out her hand. Mewtwo handed the mug to her and both he and the girl watched as Misty pulled out the teabag, blew on it to cool and put it in her mouth. Pulling it back out, she said, "See? Nothing but tea." Misty held the mug out for the girl, and this time she took it.

Mewtwo made a face, "You could've just taken a sip from the mug."

"Yeah, well I only share the same cup with my sisters. At least she's drinking it now though, right?"

Mewtwo nodded in agreement and looked over at the girl while she sipped the tea. He had to get her to talk; he'd rather not resort to reading her mind just yet, "I saw those flames you were making last night," he said. The girl quickly turned her head to face him, terror in her eyes, so he added, "We are not Team Rocket, and you are safe from them now. Just tell us what happened."

"Please?" Misty asked, "If this is something that could endanger a lot of people and pokemon, then we need to know."

"I can't tell you anything!" the girl said, looking at Misty desperately, "If I do, then they'll—" she suddenly stopped herself. Avoiding both their gazes, she looked down at her mug, now holding it in her lap.

Mewtwo began to put a couple pieces together, "Does Team Rocket have someone else? Someone they could use against you if you revealed anything?" Tears began welling in the girls eyes, "My guess is, when you were running, the police was at the forefront of your thoughts, yes?" The girl nodded, so Mewtwo continued, "I may not wear a badge, but I'm pretty sure that if I did, and you spoke to me then, you're friend would be facing the same consequences, if not more dire."

"Matthew, that's a little harsh, don't you think?" Misty asked, a note of anger in her voice. Mewtwo looked over at Misty and nodded regretfully.

The girl's muscles relaxed, a look of defeat in her eyes. "It's true though," she said, her voice tightening. "But that's under the assumption that they aren't facing them already." With that said, whatever images were flying through her head at the moment, they were enough to make her eyes water and her face contort as she broke into sobs. Misty reached behind her to rub her back soothingly.

_They…_ Mewtwo thought. _Just how many innocent people are Team Rocket doing this to?_ He knew that if he or Misty asked her any questions now, she would answer them truthfully, but would she feel safe enough to give them the whole truth? If Mewtwo supposedly left to rescue these others that Team Rocket is torturing and experimenting on—quite possibly giving them unnatural powers as well—and this girl held anything back that could hinder his success…

Mewtwo stopped that thought, he would find out as much as he can, and if he felt he needed to know more, then he would just have to read her mind and deal with the consequences of his methods _after_ her friends were safe.

He wanted to give her a chance though, but she was far too distraught now to tell her story accurately, so Mewtwo decided to give her time to get her thoughts together, "We're going to let you rest, it's obviously too soon to be asking you a long list of questions, or to be asking you to tell a long story," Mewtwo said. "So I'm just going to ask you two."

The girl glanced at him, her eyes sore and tears streaming down her face.

"Let's start with the easy one," Mewtwo said, "What's your name?"

"Vesta," she answered hesitantly.

Mewtwo could already tell something was held back in that answer; it was not her legal name, but it certainly was a name she called herself and answered to. 'Vesta' was the Roman equivalent of 'Hestia', goddess of the hearth, there's no coincidence in that. Either Team Rocket gave her that name out of arrogance, or giving herself a strong name such as that was how she was able to cope with the situation.

"Alright Vesta, second question," Mewtwo said, "I have already come to the realization that you have pokemon DNA in you, can you tell me what species of pokemon?"

There was a long pause. Vesta appeared to be warring with fear and the urge to just answer, because what difference would it make if it was a Charmander or a Magmar, other than the possibility of differing environmental conditions that she would need to live in?

Vesta took a deep breath and let it out to calm herself, and then she glanced over at Mewtwo and said in a low voice, "Moltres."


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

_I can't have heard her right_, Mewtwo thought.

_Talk about denial!_ he argued with himself.

_Moltres!? A legendary!? If they had to choose a strong fire type, couldn't it have been a Charizard? Or even a Talonflame?_

_Start small; that's rich, coming from you!_

While having his internal argument, Mewtwo was trying his best not to physically react and make the girl feel like she'd said the wrong thing. Misty on the other hand, had shock and disbelief written all over her face as she placed her hand over her mouth in a feeble attempt to hide her expression. Vesta kept her eyes fixated on her tea, visibly trembling again whilst attempting to control her new wave of emotions.

Vesta squirmed uncomfortably, "Um…where's your bathroom?"

"Misty," Mewtwo prompted. Misty nodded and helped Vesta up. The moment she was on her feet, Vesta began to tremble again and Misty had to help keep her balanced, and the blanket wrapped firmly around her as she helped her into the bathroom.

Mewtwo got up and headed to his room, he grabbed a sweater and some sweatpants, and headed to the bathroom door. He knocked and Misty cracked the door open, she accepted the clothes for Vesta, and as she closed the door, Mewtwo telepathically told her that he needed to leave to speak with Arceus.

He quickly put on his boots and cloak and left the house, heading to the Cerulean Cave. The air was cold, the sky was gray, and a freezing wind began to blow the snow in Mewtwo's face. None of it affected him though; Mewtwo was numb to the weather's feeble attempt to worsen his mood. Nevertheless, by the time he reached the mouth of the cave, Mewtwo's face was contorted in anger as the reality of what Vesta had said finally sank in.

Following the twists and turns in the cave, Mewtwo walked past a number of wild pokemon who called this place home. They knew what he was guarding at the end so none really bothered him for crossing their territory. Normally he'd have a few approach him wanting to test their strength. But right now, they all seemed to cower around the corner or duck behind rocks, wisely staying as far out of his way as possible.

When Mewtwo reached the wall of rocks at a seemingly dead end tunnel, he stood there frozen for a few minutes, just staring at it, attempting to calm himself—he failed. One Power-Up Punch later and the wall was reduced to rubble at his feet.

"Well, that's a fine way to vent your anger." A voice said sarcastically, "Though I suppose it's better than that stunt you pulled on New Island."

Mewtwo looked up as he telekinetically rebuilt the wall behind him; Mew was hovering just ahead, and the swirling portal to the Hall of Origin just beyond her. "I am not in the mood for your twisted humor Mew," he said irritably. Mewtwo summoned one of his personalized pokeballs, a black one with a red eye in the center, and used his psychic powers to store his clothes in it whilst simultaneously transforming into his true form. "Is Moltres in the Hall?"

"Moltres?" Mew asked, "Yes, I do believe I saw him. If you're headed to report something to Arceus, then we should meet Moltres on the way. Does this report concern him?"

"Yes," Mewtwo said brusquely as he walked through the portal.

Mew followed in silence, knowing first hand what Mewtwo's temper could be like, and right now he seemed to be teetering dangerously on the edge.

The hall was vast and grand. When Mewtwo first saw it, it seemed so peaceful, and so beautiful: the stone columns holding up the arched roof, and the marble floor beneath his feet. Mewtwo could've spent years admiring the amount of care put into every detail, depicting every story, down every corridor in the Hall of Origin.

That was no longer the case today. Ever since Arceus had awakened, and had been calmed of his anger once the Jewel of Life was returned to him, he returned to the Hall as though nothing had changed in the centuries he's spent slumbering.

Now the hall seemed tainted with Arceus' arrogance, and Mewtwo no longer felt like it was a place he could call home, especially after the way Arceus had reacted to how Mewtwo came into this world. Humans are right when they say first impressions count. Mewtwo did his best to be respectful to the pokemon that supposedly created this world and was the beginning to all life on it. But Arceus practically spat at the 'insult' that humans would dare attempt to challenge his power with 'man-made' pokemon. And it wasn't just Mewtwo who had to endure Arceus' rant; poor Magearna was there too! Neither Magearna, nor her guardian, Volcanion, have entered the Hall since.

Arceus' anger was also aimed at a number of once fossilized pokemon who were lucky enough to not have been in his presence at the time. Then hearing of New Island to top it all off, Mewtwo was certain then and there that Arceus was just going to stamp his hoof and phase Mewtwo out of existence, along with every other man-made pokemon. For all Mewtwo knew, Arceus already did, and then undid.

Arceus has since calmed down, explaining to Mewtwo that the events of New Island and attempted destruction of humanity was a path that most legendary pokemon had gone down and returned from—some more recently than others—and that it had become a rite of passage of sorts. Arceus wanted to start over on more peaceful terms with Mewtwo—with Magearna as well, but she was still too afraid. Seemingly to prove his sincerity though, when Team Plasma bought the Genesect back to life, Arceus was significantly more understanding to the fact that none of the man-made pokemon had any real control over their origins. But while Arceus had been more civil to Mewtwo and vise-versa, the damage had been done, and Mewtwo can't help but feel a damper on his mood any time Arceus was so much as in his thoughts.

Mewtwo earned his place in the Hall of Origin, and found purpose in being one of its few gatekeepers. That gave him some relief, but now he couldn't help but feel a spark of annoyance every time he entered the Hall. Mewtwo was physical evidence that the humans had evolved and developed much in the past hundreds of years, and Arceus still hasn't really bothered to learn what had changed. If he did, perhaps Vesta's situation could have been perceived and prevented.

"Mewtwo?" Mew asked, breaking him out of his thoughts, "I'm not going to ask you if you're alright, but we've just about reached the council chamber. Do you feel ready to speak with Arceus, or do you need a minute?"

_The council chamber? Moltres!_ Mewtwo whirled around ready to backtrack and find the phoenix, only to see Moltres waiting right behind him. Mewtwo blinked in surprise.

"You seemed distracted," Moltres explained, "Mew motioned for me to follow."

Mewtwo sighed, "Thank you. I'll explain everything inside."


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

As Mewtwo continued to lead the way towards the doors, they opened on their own, revealing a large, near-empty room, with a shallow pool serving as a centerpiece. Arceus was waiting in his usual spot furthest from the doors; if the council chamber were full, there'd be a semi-circle formed around the room, with Arceus at the head of it.

"Mewtwo," Arceus greets, "This is outside your regular schedule. What news do you bring?"

"Team Rocket insults your power yet again," Mewtwo answers evenly.

Arceus was silent for a moment and Mewtwo could sense him bristle. "That no longer surprises me," he said with a spark of annoyance. He suddenly sees Moltres, and then looks back at Mewtwo questioningly.

Mewtwo stepped toward the pool and waved his hand over it. An image of Vesta appeared in present time; she was sitting at the fireplace, still with that blanket wrapped around her. Misty was speaking with her, obviously keeping her calm while they ate some hot soup together.

"Who's that?" Mew asked.

Moltres leaned over for a closer look, and Arceus stepped forward to see as well. There was complete silence and Mewtwo could sense confusion set in, as they couldn't figure out what was so important about this image. Mewtwo opened his mouth, ready to explain, when he heard a gasp come from Moltres.

"So you do sense it." Mewtwo said to the phoenix. Moltres nodded.

"Mewtwo…" Mew said quietly, "This girl. She was born human, without such powers. How—?"

"Is it not obvious, Mew?" Arceus interrupted. "Some arrogant humans have taken Moltres' blood and put it into the girl, thereby granting her this power."

"Team Rocket. And that's not precisely how it works, and it wouldn't necessarily have to be his blood." Mewtwo stated. He wasn't going to elaborate on the delicate procedures that Mewtwo guessed were required for this result, as Arceus cared nothing for long lectures made up of words not commonly heard that did not exist a few hundred years ago. "It could've been a feather, or a claw, or any other biological part of Moltres. What I want to know right now is where they could possibly have obtained it."

Arceus, Mew, and Mewtwo all looked over at Moltres. The bird hesitated and shifted uncomfortably, "They couldn't have gotten it on Fire Island, I guard it to closely, I would've been aware of their presence the moment they crossed into my territory. The only other place I can think of—where they could've gotten it—is the stadium torch at the Indigo Plateau."

Moltres dipped his head in shame, his eyes fixated sorrowfully on the image of the girl in the pool.

"This…this certainly is a new incident. It's almost a variation of your own situation, Mewtwo," Arceus said quietly. Mewtwo was surprised do detect, not anger, but sadness, in Arceus' voice, "albeit…reversed."

Mew looked over at Mewtwo, "How did you find her?"

"She was fleeing Team Rocket; somehow, she had escaped from them," Mewtwo began to explain, "I swooped in, grabbed her, and hid until they left. She had overused her fire-type abilities, and by the time I got her into my house, she was severely hypothermic."

"Mewtwo," Arceus warned, "This sounds hauntingly familiar. 'Swoop in', 'rescue her'—."

Mewtwo stiffened, hackles rising. He scowled—curling his lips and baring his fangs—and turned to Arceus. "_Do not _finish that thought!" he hissed, taking a threatening stance. _That_ was not relevant to the current situation. Arceus had _no_ right!

Silence filled the room as Mewtwo and Arceus stared eachother down. Mew actually stopped hovering up and down in the air and she wapped her tail around herself protectively. Moltres backed away a few steps as he glanced between Arceus and Mewtwo in confusion. Despite attempting to keep the peace, this was a common occurrence between the two, usually though it would be about Mewtwo accusing Arceus of attempting to control him. Mewtwo usually lost those ones, because it was really Mewtwo letting his past influence his view of others; Arceus' rule over life on the planet was not something to be compared with Giovanni's enslavement of innocent people and pokemon. This however was different, and both Mew and Moltres let out the breaths they were holding when Arceus this time dipped his head in apology and looked away.

Now that the air was cleared, Mew gestured back down at the pool, "What do you know about her situation?" she asked.

Mewtwo let his fur lie flat again and gratefully returned to the more relevant conversation, "Not much." he growled, "She is willing to talk now, but she does not feel safe doing so. I fear that if I do prompt her story while she feels unsafe, it will hinder the accuracy."

"So, to get a proper story from her, what do you suggest? Wait a month to earn her trust, and see if she feels comfortable to talk then?" Arceus asked.

"No, for two reasons," Mewtwo answered. "One being, after a month, the events are not fresh in her memories as they are today. And two, I do not think she nor myself would be patient enough for that whilst under the knowledge that her friends could be suffering punishments for her escape."

"Team Rocket has more captives?" Moltres asked in shock, "You don't think…"

Moltres didn't have it in him to finish his thought, but he didn't need to, they all knew what he was thinking. Mewtwo sighed, "You may need to speak with Zapdos and Articuno. Find out if there has been recent unusual activity in areas they frequent." Moltres nodded reluctantly.

"What do you suggest then? To get a reliable story from her as soon as possible?" Arceus asked.

"To bring her here and speak with the Council of Legends personally."

There was dead silence, Moltres looked at Mewtwo like he'd grown a second head. Mew seemed to stare off into space, obviously attempting to come up with a better idea. But there is no place safer than the Hall of Origin, it was in another dimension altogether.

"You don't think she would be intimidated from being surrounded by so many legendaries?" Arceus asked

"I'm sure she will be," Mewtwo answered, "but she will recognize that _even if_ Team Rocket somehow found their way here, they wouldn't be stupid enough to enter. One, or even two legendary pokemon, they might try their luck against, but a whole horde? Giovanni has always been one to 'bite off more than he can chew' but even he would call that madness."

Silence again as Arceus contemplated Mewtwo's words. Arceus would no doubt destroy or move the portal to the Hall if Team Rocket—or any untrustworthy human for that matter—learned of its location.

"I can't remember the last time a human has set foot here," Arceus said, half to himself, "As far as I can tell, it has never happened. Furthermore, can this girl even be called human anymore?"

"Do I have your permission to bring her here?" Mewtwo prompted.

Arceus was silent for a moment; Mew hadn't come up with any other suggestions, so he nodded, "Yes, I will need a day to gather the council, and it appears she could also use that time to further recover."

Mewtwo nodded in agreement, the meeting was called to a close and Mewtwo teleported to the portal back to Cerulean Cave. As well as the meeting itself went, Mewtwo was not leaving the Hall of Origin in any better of a mood as he entered in.


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: Hello to everyone enjoying the story so far! I'm glad to see in the reviews that people are really liking what I am writing! So please, write more reviews, I really enjoy reading them! What are your favorite parts in the story? What to you like about certain characters so far? Don't hesitate to Private Message me if you do have a question related to the story. Yes there are some things in Mewtwo's past that I have hinted towards, but am yet to explain. That's purposeful and I will get to it, I promise!**

**Also, I have created a poll about chapter length, I believe anyone who has a profile on the fanfic site can vote on it, but you can find it in my profile. Sorry I haven't put anything else in my profile, but I will try to get around to it if I figure out what to say.**

**Hope you enjoy Chapter 8 of Mortal Legends!**

* * *

Chapter 8

It was 9:00pm by the time Mewtwo, now back in his human form, returned to his house. As soon as he entered, he stomped the snow from his boots before taking them off and putting them in the boot tray.

Misty entered from the living room as he was hanging his cloak, "How'd it go?"

Trapped in his thoughts, it took a moment for Mewtwo to answer, "It went alright," he said as neutrally as possible.

Misty crossed her arms and leaned against the wall, and putting on her was her best 'I'm not buying it' look. "You'd think with news like that, 'He' would not be taking it as smoothly as you make it sound." The "He" in question was obviously Arceus. She cocked her eyebrow expectantly, "Going to tell me the truth this time?"

"I am telling you the truth, Misty." Mewtwo said, more defensiveness in his voice than he would've preferred, "What people seem to do these days, compared to centuries ago, no longer astonishes him."

Before Misty could keep interrogating Mewtwo, he walked past her into the living room to see Vesta sitting on the couch—now turned around facing the opposite wall. Now that she was away from the fireplace, she was practically cocooned in blankets. She was currently watching a program on the TV mounted on the wall.

"How are you feeling?" Mewtwo asked her.

Vesta reached for the remote and turned the TV off, "I'm feeling better, thank you. Need I ask the same about you?"

Mewtwo could hear the note of suspicion in her voice, "I suppose from your point of view, you telling me a secret like that and my sudden disappearance afterwards would leave you feeling apprehensive. I apologize for that."

Vesta nodded, "Where did you go?" she asked.

"To someone that I report to," Mewtwo answered, Vesta stiffened, "he wants to hear your story personally, and he can provide a safe place for you while you tell it. With the information you give us, we will be better prepared for potential threats related to your situation and I will feel much better equipped when I go to rescue your friends."

"You?" she asked disbelievingly.

"Kinda jumped the gun on that one, _Matthew_," Misty says, walking over to the couch and sitting next to Vesta. She looks up at Mewtwo and continues, "I'm relieved to hear that they are going to hear her out, but you're not exactly giving her reason to believe that you alone could rescue her friends."

"Yeah, and how do I know you actually intend to rescue them and not just capture them to bring us all for your superior to use at his will?" Vesta added, scowling. She was obviously scared for her friends, but didn't want to feel responsible for taking them "out of the frying pan and into the fire".

Mewtwo winced. He did get ahead of himself. In order to prepare Vesta for facing the Council, Mewtwo had planned to start by just showing her who he really was,_ and then_ mentioning his intention to rescue her friends. He hasn't been this unfocused in a long time, and now it's beginning to create quite a mess.

Mewtwo sighed, and went over to sit on the floor in front of Misty and Vesta. There was no subtle way he could think of to begin this conversation, but anything was better than transforming without giving any context, right? "Vesta, what Team Rocket has done to you, are you aware that it may not have been their first attempt."

The anger seemed to melt from Vesta's face, though her body still remained tense and on guard as she nodded sadly, "I know that we were their first success, of countless failures," she began, "but I also heard whispers from some of them, about a different experiment they had performed nearly ten years ago, with a different legendary pokemon; one believed to be extinct."

"Mew." Mewtwo and Misty both said quietly.

"I—Yeah… they called it Project Mewtwo. How did you know?" Vesta asked, wide-eyed, looking back and forth between the two.

"I'll tell you in a moment," Mewtwo said, "just keep going, please."

Vesta nodded confusedly, "They were very secretive about it. And according to the people in Team Rocket, Mewtwo is very reclusive; his distrust of humans leaves him isolated and vulnerable. That's why Team Rocket is confident that they will be able to recapture him again."

Mewtwo visibly grimaced at that.

"Do they know where he is?" Misty asked quickly, the fear obvious in her voice.

"No, ever since the incident in Unova, where a Mewtwo was caught on security cameras battling the Genesect, there hasn't been one seen since." Vesta answered. Misty relaxed, but Mewtwo could feel the blood rush to his face as she continued, "It couldn't have been the same Mewtwo though. From what Team Rocket was saying about 'their' Mewtwo, it sounded like that one was male," she explained, to Mewtwo's growing discomfort; the girls probably couldn't hear it, but with Mewtwo's sensitive hearing, something was rattling in the kitchen—he _had _to calm down, "but the one on the security cameras seemed a bit more…feminine. I've even seen various different pictures to compare—."

"Alright, stop." Mewtwo interrupted, he couldn't handle it anymore. He looked over at Vesta, she seemed hurt, and slightly offended. And despite what knowledge she does have about Unova—pertaining to the Genesect incident—Misty too, was stunned by Mewtwo's sudden outburst, "Forgive me, I couldn't—." This wasn't going well either; it was too much too soon. And thanks to Arceus, Mewtwo felt like he was going to snap at any second. He took a deep breath and continued, "Despite the differences in the photos, that is the same Mewtwo; a Mew's transformation ability allows them to change even their sex."

"I was going to say, it was probably a different Mewtwo altogether," Vesta said, "I mean, considering the fact that all these criminal organizations spy on each other, it wouldn't be too surprising if Team Plasma attempted to create a Mewtwo of their own, right?" She stayed silent for a minute, and then looked thoughtful, "How do you know your theory is correct, do you two actually know this Mewtwo personally?"

Misty's patience ran out, "It's not a theory, it's a fact. _I_ know Mewtwo personally, and _he_ is tiptoeing around the bush trying to break this to you slowly."

_Thanks Misty_, Mewtwo said sarcastically. Purposefully though, he had projected the telepathy to Vesta as well.

"We'd have been here all night if I didn't jump in." Misty retorted.

Mewtwo locked eyes with Vesta when he realized she was staring at him, the disbelief growing more and more apparent on her face, "…No…" she said skeptically.

Mewtwo transformed into his true form and stored his clothes in his pokeball—all while holding eye contact with Vesta, almost like he was daring her to say that again.

The transformation didn't stop Vesta's staring, but it did summon a variety of expressions to her face: shock, fear, disbelief, awe, and even traces of hope. "Of all the people, and pokemon, in Cerulean City alone, you—. How—?"

Mewtwo held up his hand to stop her, "Take a few breaths and collect yourself while I do the talking," he said, this was the expected reaction, but it wasn't reassuring considering she was to face the Council of Legends tomorrow, "I am Mewtwo; the very one that Giovanni ordered the creation of and attempted to enslave before my escape. Because Team Rocket and their scientists were my only impression of the human race, I assumed that the rest of the world would be no different. And because cruelty was my only influence, I acted no better than Giovanni after my escape. It took some remarkable humans—who I can now call friends—and nothing short of a miracle to change my outlook on this world." Mewtwo took a moment to piece together the rest of his introduction to Vesta, "With that said, I am still wary of the human race in general, but I now maintain what true friendships I do gain as they have proven to be scarce, in my opinion, and invaluable. However,"—Vesta looked up when she heard his tone darken—"Unova has always been a sensitive subject for me. I hold nothing against you for bringing it up, as you did not know, but I would appreciate it if the topic about my presence in Unova were few and far between."

Misty, noticeably, cocked an eyebrow, and Mewtwo _knew_ she was going to bring up Unova again before the night was up—whether she knew it or not. His conversation with her in the entryway was already decidedly, in her mind, far from over.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

It was 11:00pm now, and Mewtwo was sitting on the couch, which was turned around again to face the fireplace—he began to think maybe he should get a second one for the living room and just have them back-to-back. Vesta was now asleep in one of the spare bedrooms down the hall nearest the entry.

Mewtwo looked towards the kitchen, dread twisting his stomach. Misty was in there making tea. He knew that if he told her that he'd rather not have this conversation, there'd be a little back and forth bickering, but she'd ultimately respect it and drop the subject, despite not wanting to. But Mewtwo knew it would be at the forefront of her thoughts for a long time, and that would be when his psychic powers would feel more like a curse, because then, any time that Misty, _his friend_, would be near, her surface thoughts would serve as nothing but a painful reminder and a trigger to his memories of Team Plasma.

There were some things he didn't want to speak of, some things that he just wanted to leave in the past and move on from. But Mewtwo should've known better, he had only been able to move on from anything in his past once he had acknowledged it and made a plan to do better. He thought he did, when he swore to never repeat his actions in Unova, but giving up and never trying again, is not the same as acknowledging, learning, and moving on. 'Never again' is what kept Mewtwo from truly moving on.

Misty entered the living room and gave Mewtwo his cup of tea. She grabbed a throw pillow from the couch, and sat down on the floor on the other side of the coffee table. Mewtwo sat in silence, focusing on calming himself, and undoing that knot in his stomach. The tea would help; the warmth from the cup in his hands traveled up his arms and relaxed the muscles in his back. He breathed in the scent of chamomile and felt whatever expression he had on his face soften.

"I know that you said you'd rather not talk about Unova so soon, and I know that 'few and far between' means more than just a couple hours," Misty started, "but right after the event with the Genesect, you came back to Kanto and I knew then that something was bothering you. But I respected the fact that you weren't yet ready to talk about it, I just didn't realize then that I would be waiting for _years,_ before you were ready."

"I still don't know if I am," Mewtwo said dejectedly. Misty eyes sparked with a slight anger, but before she could say anything, Mewtwo continued, "but I suppose time _doesn't_ heal all wounds."

"Time can't do it alone."

Mewtwo sighed, and looked down at his tea. She was right. He hated that he was putting this on her, but he knew that it would come back eventually, and repeatedly, and it would continue to hurt him until he dealt with it properly. It was obvious that Misty was not going to like this story, and both she and Mewtwo knew that, but despite that, she was still willing to lend a sympathetic ear to him. _Best get this over with_, Mewtwo thought, "It started about two years before the Genesect incident…"

* * *

_Five years ago_

Mewtwo was in the Pinwheel forest just outside Nacrene city, discovering the different species of pokemon in this region. He was only five years old after all, and obviously had much to learn, and he wanted to learn as much as possible. Mew compared him to a bright-eyed child eager to explore his new surroundings, but she said it in a way that made him feel good inside. Because it was true, he _was_ eager to explore, and no doubt there was a time when even Mew wanted to travel and make new discoveries of her own.

Mewtwo was watching a group of young Pansage, Panour, and Pansear playing in a small clearing—their parents watching nearby, aware of Mewtwo, but not bothering him since he hasn't proven himself a threat—when he heard a scream. Immediately, the Pan' pokemon ran to their parents and were ushered away into the undergrowth while Mewtwo rushed to the source of the sound to investigate.

_"Help!"_ It was a Gardevoir, female, she was strangely colored—rather than the usual green color for the hair, arms and torso for the common Gardevoir, she had a blue coloring. A group of pokemon hunters were chasing her. Her psychic powers were obviously reaching their limits as she levitated off the ground to avoid tripping over tree roots as she fled. And while that helped her stay ahead of her pursuers, it didn't help her avoid the low hanging branches scraping at her body. There were also other wounds on her body that no tree could've done.

There was a Bisharp with the group, so Mewtwo knew that the minds of the hunters were protected by a darkness aura; no wonder the Gardevoir couldn't simply hypnotize them and escape. One other problem was that with his level of powers, that Bisharp could easily sense Mewtwo's presence in the same way a Psychic would for any non-dark type.

The Bisharp glanced through the trees in the general direction towards Mewtwo as he ran by, "_Involve yourself, and you will regret it._" he threatened, "_This is your one warning_."

"Don't let her get away," one of the hunters ordered the Bisharp, "a shiny Gardevoir will fetch us a fine price."

Humans like this disgusted Mewtwo, and that Bisharp was no better. Mewtwo could already feel his rage boiling. He began his pursuit, passing the hunters easily, but the Gardevoir and Bisharp were further ahead.

The Bisharp used Air Slash on the trees just ahead, and grinned menacingly as the trees fell in the Gardevoir's path, cutting her off. She was going so fast she wasn't able to stop herself in time before she crashed into the fallen trees and she fell to the ground. She tried to get back up to start running again, but the Bisharp had caught up and lunged at her, cutting into her side deeply with one of the blades near his elbows. Crying out, she fell back onto the ground, and this time, could not get up. Mewtwo could already sense the paralysis set in; that Bisharp must've had his blades dusted with Stun Spore.

Mewtwo caught up just then, and he telekinetically picked up a fallen log on the ground and launched it at the Bisharp, sending him flying into a tree and knocking him out immediately. Mewtwo felt the darkness veil slip as he looked over at the hunters, who had just caught up, to see them staring back at him in shock.

"Would you look at that." the lead hunter said in awe, he looked back at his companions, "We catch this one boys and we're set for life!"

By the time the hunter looked back, his quarry had disappeared.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

_Five years ago (2 years and 3 months before Genesect)_

Mewtwo had teleported the group of hunters to the nearest police station in Nacrene City, wrapping them in one of their own nets for good measure, for a very confused Officer Jenny to find. He wanted to do so much more than simply teleport the bastards away unscathed. He wanted to hurt them; he wanted to make them feel a pain that dwarfs that of every pokemon that suffered at their hands. And he wanted them to know fear, a fear so horrible Mewtwo wouldn't need to use his psychic powers to snap their minds, that their minds would snap on their own!

But he had a higher priority; the Gardevoir, now in his arms, needed immediate treatment. He looked over at the unconscious Bisharp, and scowled—unfortunately, he couldn't teleport the dark-type away too—before teleporting to his temporary Unova region home in Lostlorn Forest. The Gardevoir looked up at him fearfully, but couldn't struggle out of his arms due to the paralysis. She felt so small, and so frail in his arms, Mewtwo knew this was actually the normal physique for all Gardevoir, but he couldn't help but feel a swell of pity for her in her weakened state, "_It's alright,"_ he tried reassuring her telepathically, "_you're safe now, you can rest easy while I treat your wounds._"

Mewtwo looked ahead to the small opening within the dense forest, it led to the den that he had made as his home. He walked forward, through the opening, which lead to a spacious, yet sheltered clearing. There was soft grass covering the ground, thick moss and vines growing up the trees to close in the area around them, and the thick branches and leaves sheltered overhead, letting just enough sunlight into the den to make it feel more welcoming than spooky. There was also a small stream running from the east end of the den and curving to exit through the north end.

Mewtwo carried Gardevoir to a slight depression in the ground at the left of the den; it had especially thick grass and even some moss for extra cushioning. He set her down gently and reached towards the wall of the den, psychically moving the vines aside to reveal herbal remedies and bandages. He selected some Cheri, Pecha and Sitrus berries to work with then also grabbed some bandages, a cloth, two bowls and a grinding stone.

He set to work, levitating the Pecha and Sitrus berries, along with one Cheri berry above one bowl, squeezing the juices out and combining them, then placing the remains of the berries in the other bowl with the remaining Cheri berries. Taking on a life of it's own, the grinding stone began mash up the berries into a paste while Mewtwo guided the other bowl to the Gardevoir's mouth.

She was visibly shaking, seemingly trying her hardest to fight the paralysis and distance herself from him, "_I'm not going to hurt you_," Mewtwo told her, "_just drink this, it will restore your strength and help you fight the paralysis. Please, just take a leap of faith_."

The shaking reduced to a slight trembling, and the Gardevoir began to drink the berry juice. By the time she had finished, the poultice was ready to be applied to her wounds. Mewtwo summoned some water from the stream, grabbed the cloth and started with moving the Gardevoir's left arm to reveal the large cut in her side.

"_Have you a name?_" Mewtwo asked, trying to distract her as he began to clean the wound and apply the poultice. "_Or do you just go by 'Gardevoir'?_"

Silence at first, but she answered, "_Naiya,_" she said.

Mewtwo smiled, "_Well Naiya, my name is Mewtwo, it's nice to meet you."_

_"It would've been better under different circumstances though,"_ she said miserably.

Mewtwo chuckled audibly, "_Yes, that would've been preferable, but I suppose some things just can't be helped can they? At least things are looking up now, though, right?_"

Naiya looked up at him, relieved, and gave a small smile, "_Indeed._"

* * *

"Naiya." Misty said quietly, "That translates to something right?"

"In Arabic, it means 'Water Nymph'," Mewtwo answered, staring off slightly, a near-invisible smile on his face. _She had the haunting beauty of one._

Misty brought him back, "Well, what happened after that?"

The distant look in his eyes gone, "I had to keep redressing her wounds, and stitch the injury in her side," Mewtwo started again, "so for that reason she couldn't leave for a couple of weeks…"

* * *

Mewtwo woke up in his nest on the other side of the clearing from Naiya's. Looking over to find she wasn't there, Mewtwo glanced around the den to see where she was. When it was apparent that Naiya was not in the den, Mewtwo groaned, annoyed,_ I told her not to go off on her own like that_. When he told her it was safe for her to move around, he also explicitly warned her it'd be dangerous to go out alone. _Those were hunters after her, for Arceus' sake! Whoever hired them could've hired more!_ Despite the risks though, she'd left on her own on numerous occasions to find ways to 'return the favour' for him rescuing her; gathering for meals, and also searching for berries to restock Mewtwo's medicine supplies after he'd used up most of it on her.

Mewtwo closed his eyes and quickly searched for Naiya mentally, to find her picking berries from some nearby bushes. She looked up, sensing Mewtwo's mental presence, and glanced in his general direction, smiling innocently, before continuing her task. "_I am beginning to wonder how you managed to survive this long before the hunters found you."_ Mewtwo chided.

"_Awww, were you worried about me?" _Naiya teased.

Mewtwo scoffed and rolled over in his nest, "_Don't flatter yourself,_" he scolded playfully, "_If you are so insistent on risking your own safety, then why should _I_ waste my time worrying?_"

Naiya looked over towards Mewtwo with some form of 'puppy-dog-eyes', "_Oh come now, don't be like that…_" she was obviously trying to guilt-trip him, "_I'm gathering breakfast for us._"

"_It's going to be a late afternoon lunch for me,_" Mewtwo stated, "_or early supper, whatever you would call it in your diurnal terms_. _Either way, that's _my_ breakfast time_."

Mewtwo smirked in amusement when Naiya threw her head back and audibly groaned, "_Come on! That doesn't give us much time to spend together, between you waking up in late afternoon and me going to sleep at night! It's not fair…_"

Mewtwo jolted in his nest. For the past few days, Naiya had been dropping many of these not-so-subtle hints that she wanted to know more about him. While he did enjoy her company in his den, he was nowhere near ready to attempt any such closeness with her. Her wounds were healed now and she had been physically well enough to leave the den, and return to her home. Mewtwo even reassured her saying he'd escort her back to her home, but she'd go silent and refuse to answer him. She was obviously hiding something and he couldn't figure out what, but he wasn't just going to force his way into her mind to figure out what was wrong, nor was he about to force her out of his den, either one would hurt her, and make him feel awful.

Naiya returned to the den with her basket full of berries. Mewtwo looked over his shoulder at her when he heard her footsteps signalling her return. When she saw him looking at her, she turned her head away spitefully. "_And here I thought only children acted like that",_ Mewtwo teased.

That got a reaction out of her, she glared in his direction in a way that only proved his point, so he couldn't help but grin as he looked away and started to fall back asleep. Before sleep claimed him though, Naiya made sure to get the last word in, "Jerk," she said vocally; quietly, but just loud enough that she _knew_ he heard her.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

"Wow." Misty said sarcastically, "And here I thought you two had gotten off to a good start."

"We did, and then I spoiled it," Mewtwo admitted. He had to defend himself somehow though, "she was giving me gray fur though, running off alone like that; she was a shiny! I don't know which is more dangerous to be sometimes: shiny or legendary?"

"At least legendary pokemon have their extraordinary powers to better defend themselves," Misty said thoughtfully, "shiny pokemon have no such extra power to use to protect themselves, unless they themselves are a legendary pokemon, or have also been the result of a long line of _illegal_ selective chain breeding." she added, then she narrowed her eyes in a way that made Mewtwo uncomfortable, "What do you think a shiny Mewtwo would look like?"

"We are getting off topic," Mewtwo said.

"Sorry," Misty apologized, "sorry, it just popped into my head. I couldn't help it."

Mewtwo sighed, "My aura does not shimmer in the sunlight so I am obviously not the shiny of my species; so long as it is not something outrageous, like hot-pink, I honestly couldn't care less." Misty, now with that image in her head, was trying so hard not to laugh. Mewtwo then decided it was time to return to the story, "If I must reassure you about my attitude towards Naiya, I was lucky enough to find an opportunity to 'smooth things over'…"

* * *

When Mewtwo woke up in the late afternoon, he was surprised to find Naiya already asleep. He got up quietly so he didn't disturb her and grabbed an apple from the recently restocked food storage. He left the den quietly and lifted into the air, flying over the clouds, over Nimbasa City and heading to Driftveil City. He could've teleported to save time, but the problem with that is, he didn't have any other plans that would use up that extra time.

By the time he reached Driftveil City, the sky was beginning to turn pink with the sunset, and the first few stars were already becoming visible. There were just a few things he needed in Driftveil that he—or rather, Naiya at this point—couldn't get in Lostlorn Forest; bandages for one, and for another, Revival herbs.

There was a shopkeeper in the market area of the town, who had just what Mewtwo needed, and was currently packing up for the day.

Now, Mewtwo was never much for stealing, but this man was a special occasion, a brief scan of his memories some time back told Mewtwo that this man "buys cheap and sells high", so not only could he afford the loss, but if _anyone_ was stealing…

Well, Mewtwo could just call himself a self-serving Robin Hood, but maybe he did have a little of Mew's mischievous nature. Mewtwo hid just on the edge of the forest and decided to drag it out a little for further enjoyment. Every time the shopkeeper would turn his back to put some supplies away, Mewtwo would pluck one Revival herb from a random bag, the man had a lot of bags too, so there was a large selection and so little was taken from each bag that the shopkeeper didn't even notice.

Once Mewtwo had collected a fifth herb, he heard a quiet snicker coming from the other end of the market. He looked over in that direction to see the young lady who sells Moo-Moo Milk; she had obviously noticed the Revival Herbs being floated away. She was trying so hard to focus on her task, but if the red cheeks, pressed lips and squinted eyes of her barely contained mirth said anything, she was failing.

Mewtwo got an idea, he levitated a jar of milk in front of the lady, and she looked at it in surprise. She wasn't getting the message so Mewtwo shook the jar back and forth gently; this time she realized the question. She glanced in the general direction of where the herbs went and smiled, nodding. Before anyone noticed the floating jar, she plucked it from the air and put it in a large bag, even adding a second jar, and a small packet to the bag. Then, making sure no one was looking, she walked to the edge of the forest, just a few yards over from where Mewtwo was hiding, and placed the bag down.

When the lady walked back to her station—still smiling—to continue packing up, Mewtwo crept over to the bag. He looked through it to find the packet and discovered it was some chocolate-chip cookies, there was also a note inside: "Safe for Pokemon". Mewtwo smiled, thievery shouldn't be rewarded like this, but he'd obviously made her day.

When Mewtwo returned to his den, the sky was dark, save for the numerous stars now shining brightly. He entered and placed the milk jars in the stream to keep cool; shifting some rocks to hold them steady in the current. Then he started over to the medicine storage to put away the Revival herbs only to freeze in his tracks.

Naiya's bed was empty; she wasn't there! Mewtwo was about to fly out of his den to look for her when he heard a voice, "_There you are!_"

Mewtwo breathed a heavy sigh of relief, and turned to Naiya, who was just returning through the den entrance. _She was out alone yet again!_ Mewtwo gave up. He wasn't going to reprimand her anymore, since it was never going to sink in, "_Trouble sleeping, Naiya?"_

"_Nope! I slept rather well, thank you."_ Naiya said, grinning, "_I decided to try and sleep during the day so I could stay up with you. When I woke up though, you were gone. Where did you go?"_

"_I had to make a stop in Driftveil City_," Mewtwo said, holding up the herbs before using his telekinesis to send them to their storage, "_You're rather persistent about learning more about me aren't you?"_ He smirked in amusement. Despite how it would make him feel uncomfortable at times, Mewtwo had to admire her tenacity.

"_What's so bad about that?"_ Naiya asked, looking away pouting.

_"And what exactly would you want to know about a '_jerk_' like me?"_

"_Oh, come on!_ Please_? I didn't really mean that!"_ Naiya pleaded, she looked down at her clasped hands, "_Don't make me beg…_"

"_Naiya, my history is not one that you would enjoy hearing about. I must warn you of that at the very least." _Mewtwo started. Naiya actually raised her clasped hands in front of her face, dipping her head, and looked ready to actually beg. Mewtwo continued before she had the chance to drop all her pride and get on her knees over this, "_So before I begin my story, I must be able to trust that you will stop me if you feel you cannot hear anymore."_

Naiya looked up, smiling like she'd finally won a battle against Mewtwo. Perhaps, in a way, she did, "_I promise! I won't let you scar me for life!"_ She finished with a giggle, so full of naivety that Mewtwo began to wish he had been a little colder towards her so that he didn't have to risk stealing that bright light from her eyes.

He levitated one of the milk jars from the stream, pulled the cookies out of the food storage and sat down with Naiya in the center of the clearing. She looked at the milk and cookies curiously and when Mewtwo offered her a cookie, she took it and followed his lead in dunking the cookie in the jar of milk. She had obviously never had a treat as simple as this before, so Mewtwo had to suppress a laugh at her excitement after the first bite.

Then Mewtwo felt guilt twist his stomach, he didn't want to ruin this moment with Naiya by burdening her with knowledge of his past. Mewtwo looked over at her just as the moonlight began to slip through the branches and bathe her in its glow; her hair, once blue, took on a silvery appearance—as did her arms, Mewtwo was sure, but the way her face was framed by that silvery hair was so…hypnotizing. He felt something stir within him and he found himself completely spellbound by the sight.

Mewtwo did not know how long he had been staring, but he broke from the trance when Naiya shifted and looked away, smiling sheepishly, hiding her reddening cheeks. Having been snapped out of it, Mewtwo had scolded himself; such a closeness as that with Naiya couldn't be possible, especially not after he finishes telling his story. _Hell, once I do finish, or when she asks me to stop, that might be when she finally takes me up on my offer to escort her home._


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

"Oh come _on_, Mewtwo!" Misty said exasperatedly, "Were you really that _dense_ then? She wanted to know more about you! She even went as far as changing her sleeping schedule to work with yours—that can't have been healthy for her—but she was willing to do it _for you_!"

Mewtwo rolled his eyes, Misty was acting as though she were watching some sappy romance movie, "Of course, I noticed, Misty. I noticed it from the moment she first began asking questions about me. I am _not_ dense. I just didn't want to get my hopes up only to find them crashing down for the most unsurprising reason possible."

Misty sighed, "Well, how did she take the knowledge of your history?"

Mewtwo hesitated, "Well…to my surprise, she took it rather well."

* * *

Dawn was lighting the sky by the time Mewtwo had finished telling Naiya about Team Rocket, New Island, and Mount Quena. He couldn't believe she was actually able to stomach it all.

"_So…_" Naiya began, lost in thought, looking down at the now empty jar of milk, "_You live a life of feeling constantly hunted…all because you're__—__."_

"_A clone_." Mewtwo finished for her. He was lying on his back, looking up at the brightening sky.

"_Different,_" she corrected, glancing over at him, sadness in her eyes, "_Does that have to mean being different is really a bad thing though?"_

"_To be different? Of course not!" _Mewtwo sat up and looked at her_, "Naiya, everyone is different in ways they cannot control. And yes, it can affect how we are able to live our lives, and it can be a deciding factor on whether or not we would need help, but it should _never_ take away our right to live in peace!_"

Naiya smiled, looking relieved, "_So you're not ashamed of the fact that you're a clone?"_

Mewtwo was quiet for a moment, and he looked down at the moss, "_I used to be,_" he answered regretfully, feeling the need to reassure her though, he continued, "_But ever since Mount Quena, my opinion of myself as a clone has improved._"

"_I'm happy for you,_" Naiya said,, "_And I'm happy I can say the same thing for myself_." Mewtwo looked over at her, confused, and Naiya gave a soft, hollow laugh, "_I'm a 'shiny', and there was a time when I was ashamed too."_

"_Care to tell me your story?_" Mewtwo inquired.

"_I'm not as good of a storyteller as you are, and we're both very tired now._" she said, yawning. She seemed to be trying to avoid it, but it was only fair that she told her story in exchange, right?"_So I won't go into too much detail about it…I'm sure with a name like mine, you must've realized I had a trainer?"_

"_Yes, translated in one of the human languages, your name means 'Water Nymph'._" Mewtwo answered, "_It's too fitting to have been a coincidence._"

"_Well, thank you for the compliment,_" Naiya giggled lightly. Then, her eyes grew distant and she smiled sadly, "_He was an old man; he said that he'd found me out in the woods as an infant Ralts. He took me in, and raised me. He even had knowledge about pokemon battles, so he also trained me to be able to defend myself, even went as far as asking other trainers who had Psychic type pokemon to teach me things that he could not."_

"_He sounds like a very kind man,_" Mewtwo commented, but with sadness in his heart, he had an idea where this was going.

"_He was; when I met his grandchildren, I realized he was treating me no different from them,_" Naiya said, her eyes beginning to shimmer with grief,_ "but no Gardevoir, who dedicates their life to protecting a human, can protect them from the passage of time_." The tears began to fall and Mewtwo reached out his hand to rub her shoulder comfortingly, "_That feeling of failure is the same as it would be for a Gardevoir who couldn't protect their trainer from an attack, or an accident."_

Mewtwo began to feel regret for prompting her story, but it was too late to ask her to stop, she'd crossed the point of no return. He should've known this before, should've realized it sooner. Having a name that only a human could've given her, but not having a human near… Gardevoir are cursed with the pain of grief and feelings of failure, never to forgive themselves for not being able to protect their trainer. No amount of time, therapy, or attempts to heal from their past can take that pain away; it's in their very nature. So when it comes back like this, the pain feels as potent as the moment the tragedy occurred. Some very unfortunate Gardevoir have gone insane from the agony they feel over and over…

"_All…all I could do was…use Hypnosis on him to ease his passing; let him go in his sleep," _Naiya said, before breaking into sobs, so loud, heartfelt and _fresh_ that Mewtwo half-expected that if he looked over his shoulder, he'd see the dying old man.

It may have happened in the past, but for Naiya, it felt like it was happening in the moment, she needed to be comforted. Mewtwo gripped her shoulder and brought her to him. He held her close as she sobbed. However long her grieving lasted that first time, it would be no different for her now, it could be days, weeks, even months, before she would be able to return to the Naiya she was just a few minutes ago.

* * *

Misty looked away sadly, her eyes barely focusing on the flames in the fireplace, "Poor Naiya…" she said quietly, "That's the very reason why I don't always approve of certain trainers who have a Gardevoir; they can be so reckless sometimes, or I just have a feeling that they are not well enough aware of the burden they are placing on their Gardevoir. Their lifespans are longer than a human's, and the older a Gardevoir is, the less of a chance they have at surviving their curse for long once their trainer dies of old age. I don't know why it isn't illegal to capture a Gardevoir already."

Mewtwo nodded in agreement, "There is nothing that can be done about it though, Gardevoir make the choice on their own whether or not to commit their life to a human's protection; no pokeball required. It's created by a Psychic link and it's not something that can be undone; unfortunately, I do not think that old man was well informed about a Gardevoir's nature, and that in turn is what led to the position Naiya found herself in then." He was quiet for a minute, "I tended to Naiya while she grieved, bringing her anything she required, and comforting her when she needed. However, I truly feared for her during the first few days, she wouldn't speak to me, she didn't eat, and she barely slept; sometimes I used Hypnosis on her because I wasn't sure how long it was going to last, and her health would take a turn for the worse if it went on like that for too long."

"So…how long before she finished grieving…again?" Misty asked.

"After a few days I was able to coax her into eating again. She still seemed to need me to be with her while she slept though, so I lay next to her in her nest, holding her. I didn't even care that it led me to sleeping at night and waking in the day." Mewtwo started. Misty was now looking up at him, smiling softly, her surface thoughts being along the lines of 'That's so sweet'. Mewtwo then finished answering her question, "Then after a few weeks, her grieving wasn't as intense, and she finished her story, even though I told her she didn't have to. I was afraid to risk starting her pain all over again. She told me that she tried to join a clan of her own kind, but due to the added risk factor with her being a shiny, they couldn't allow her in." Mewtwo said, "It was then that I realized why she didn't want to leave, she seemed to have no place to go. They aided her, gave her provisions to help her continue on. But I think it was on that day that she realized why she was found abandoned as an infant in the first place."

"And it was then, after that clan sent her on her way, that you found her?"

Mewtwo hesitated, "From my perspective, yes."


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N: So just in case the different forms of speech get a little confusing (for the next few chapters there will be a variety)**

_Character's thoughts_

_"Telepathic speech"_

"Regular vocal speech"

**Also in the case of all pokemon in the story, they are speaking in their own languages, not English. However, certain pokemon like those that can speak English in the movies (ie Arceus and Mewtwo) are the exception to this.**

* * *

Chapter 13

_Five years ago (2 years and 1 month before Genesect)_

Mewtwo woke up as he felt Naiya shift in his arms. He opened his eyes and looked at her laying next to him. Her head was resting on his arm while his other arm and his tail were wrapped around her protectively. Her hair was unkempt and as she opened her eyes to meet with his, they appeared to be red and puffy. Somehow though, as she was looking up at Mewtwo, she was able to crack a small smile. There was still sadness and grief in her eyes as she smiled, but Mewtwo knew the worst was behind them now. _And she fought through it bravely_, Mewtwo thought. He couldn't begin to imagine the strength required for Gardevoir to push through their recurring grief. Mewtwo breathed a sigh of relief and smiled back at Naiya, then, unexpectedly, leaned forward to kiss her forehead.

Naiya's eyes widened in surprise and her cheeks reddened. She looked away, smiling sheepishly at the gesture, before shifting closer to nuzzle in Mewtwo's chest. Mewtwo felt a blush come to his cheeks at that. It seemed to be an unspoken agreement in that moment, which both he and Naiya wanted to try a closer relationship. It already felt like they were moving a little too fast though, especially after what she'd been through, he didn't want to feel like he was taking advantage of her. And Mewtwo wasn't even sure what had brought his feelings on so suddenly, it was just before this event that he had doubts this was even possible.

"_You seem better,_" Mewtwo said quietly, "_I'm glad_."

"_Another couple of weeks and I'll be back to my usual self," _Naiya said lightly.

Mewtwo summoned some apples from the food storage for breakfast, and he and Naiya sat together eating quietly. After that, he managed to coax her out of the den and escort her to the nearby waterfall so they could clean themselves up.

As they were walking back to the den, Mewtwo noticed Naiya's eyes were downcast, and still mournful. He sighed and wrapped his arm around her shoulders comfortingly, as guilt stabbed his heart. Mewtwo guided her to the fallen tree next to the den entrance and they sat down. Naiya rested her head on Mewtwo's shoulder, and they both looked out across the field, taking in the scenery.

After a few minutes of silence, Naiya spoke up, "_Thank you,_" she said, "_for being there for me._"

"_After being responsible for it recurring in the first place,_" Mewtwo started, "_it was the very least I could do._"

Naiya blinked slowly, then turned her head to look up at Mewtwo, "_Mewtwo?"_

"_Yes, Naiya?_" He asked, looking down and meeting her eyes.

"_Are we really going to try this?" _Naiya asked nervously, "_Us being together?_"

"_We could..._" Mewtwo said, contemplatively, "_But let's not go too fast. Let's start with building a close friendship._" There was a slight disappointment in Naiya's eyes when he said that, but Mewtwo continued, "_Take the time to learn each others likes and dislikes; favorite foods and such,_" he explained.

The disappointment didn't fade, but her face did show some understanding at that, "_I suppose so…"_

Mewtwo dipped his head and kissed Naiya's forehead as a 'thanks'.

* * *

"So that's when your relationship _officially_ began?" Misty asked.

"That's when I decided to officially make an effort." Mewtwo clarified, "Naiya had already begun in her efforts long before me. And over time, we grew very close."

* * *

_Four years ago (1 year before Genesect)_

"_Ah hahaha! Stop it! Stop!_" Naiya laughed. Mewtwo was pulling her by her hand into the ocean waters of Undella Bay. It wasn't _that_ cold, and Mewtwo was trying to convince her. He had even been swimming around in the water beforehand to prove it to Naiya, but she was deciding to be difficult. So, as she continued in her vain attempts to stop him, Mewtwo—grinning roguishly—wrapped one arm around her waist, lifted her over his shoulder, and carried her away from the dry beach and into the water, "_No! Nononono__—__Wa-AAAH!"_ She shrieked as Mewtwo dove into the water, taking her with him.

When they both broke the surface and gasped for air, it was Mewtwo's turn to laugh; Naiya's hair had flattened to her head, a piece of seaweed had gotten stuck in it, and she was so busy glaring at him that she didn't even seem to notice! She wasn't really mad though, Mewtwo could tell; despite her glaring at him the way she was, it was all in good humor. Mewtwo hardly ever made any vocalizations because his physical voice sounds very different from his telepathic one, it sounded very alien to him when he first heard his own voice. Due to lack of use however, his throat would get sore rather easily, he was definitely going to pay for this bout of laughter, but he had no regrets.

Once he'd caught his breath, Mewtwo reached toward Naiya's head—she watched him warily as he did this—and plucked the seaweed from her hair. She looked at the seaweed, then back at Mewtwo, and started to giggle, then burst into loud laughter of her own, Mewtwo immediately following suit.

Mewtwo and Naiya's relationship officially grew past the friendship stage during the middle of winter, a few months after Naiya had fully recovered from her grieving. It was just a regular winter night like any other, the cold was keeping them inside their warm den—_their_ den_, _Mewtwo still couldn't believe it. They were sitting by the campfire, set in the center of the den, talking about…something, when Naiya made the first move. She had reached her hands up to his face and kissed him full on the lips. He remembered closing his eyes, wrapping his arms around her and tracing his hands up to her shoulders to hold her close, as she pushed down on him, making him lie back, with her on top of him. They stayed like that for a few seconds, kissing, enjoying their first moment of true closeness. When Naiya's movements became more insistent, Mewtwo, regretfully, had to stop her; he did want to be intimate with her, but once again it felt like they were moving too fast. He explained to her that he wanted to enjoy the progress of their relationship slowly, so that they can savor each individual moment. She pouted at first but also understood. It was after that that they had begun to do other simple things that couples usually do, like share their nest, and their meals.

Mewtwo had also gotten back to exploring the Unova region, and taking Naiya with him, sharing the experience. Gazing at the cities from a distance, exploring places like the Celestial Tower and Twist Mountain, circling around the Unova region until they reached the shores of Undella Bay, where Mewtwo thought was the perfect place to relax and unwind.

So once Mewtwo and Naiya were able to stop laughing and catch their breath, Naiya climbed up onto Mewtwo's back and held onto his shoulders while he hooked his arms under her legs. He began to walk back in the direction of the shore, but Naiya had other ideas, grinning mischievously, she used Psychic on Mewtwo's tail, pushing to the left and setting him off balance. Mewtwo's eyes widened in surprise, he cried out in shock, and Naiya screamed gleefully, as his body began to fall to the left, and they, once again, crashed into the water.

As they were splashing and tussling in the water, a cry cut them off, "Meeeewww!"

Mewtwo looked up, a smile spreading across his face as a familiar form appeared overhead; the outline of a tiny kitten with a long, thin tail.

Naiya grinned widely and waved eagerly in greeting. Mew, Mewtwo's sister, had visited a couple times after Mewtwo first introduced Naiya to her as his mate-to-be. Mew was so happy for Mewtwo, and she wanted to know more about Naiya; they became very close friends too, it seemed Naiya was even capable of the same level of mischief that Mew had—if the stunt she pulled with Mewtwo's tail didn't say anything.

"There you two are!" Mew called happily, as she floated down to the other two psychics.

Naiya hung on Mewtwo's arm, leaning most of her weight on him, "_Hi, Mew!"_ she said, "_It's so nice to see you again!_"

"_How have you been?_" Mewtwo asked as he led the way to the dry shore.

"Well let's see," Mew began, "I was watching some Deerling playing near Dragonspiral tower when…"


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

Misty was laughing, from hearing this most recent part of the story; she was making an effort not to be too loud though, so that she didn't wake Vesta. Mewtwo smiled at the memory, it was one of his best ones of his time with Naiya.

"Oh, Mewtwo! I didn't know you had such a playful side!" Misty exclaimed.

"I think, until that day, neither did I," Mewtwo chuckled lightly.

"Well, honestly! I've gotta think up some way to bring out that side of you again. I have to see it!"

While Misty was busy stifling her giggles and calming down, Mewtwo looked at the clock and noted that it was near 2:00AM. His smile fell, and his shoulders slumped guiltily. He had been stalling, telling Misty all these wonderful stories of his relationship with Naiya…it was going to be cruel to them both now, to finish it.

"Mewtwo?" Misty asked.

Mewtwo snapped out of his thoughts and looked over at Misty. Her eyes had darkened with concern…for _him_, "I'm sorry Misty…" he said, remorsefully. He could feel his throat tighten, and could hear the regret sounding in his own voice, "All these wonderful, and happy stories that I am telling, and I fear I have made you forget how it is going to end…"

Misty looked down sadly, reality coming back to her; she was here to listen to a story that ends so badly, Mewtwo wanted to bury it and forget.

Mewtwo sighed regretfully, "It's my fault. Maybe we should stop—."

"No," Misty said firmly, "Please, Mewtwo, keep going." She took a deep breath and steeled herself before looking back up at Mewtwo, determination set in her eyes. She braced herself to hear where it all went wrong.

* * *

_Three and a half years ago (6 months before Genesect)_

It was perfect, this place, the Moor of Icirrus, in all it's peaceful beauty, would be the place where Mewtwo, would bring Naiya, and ask her to take the next big step with him in their relationship. He would ask her to become his mate.

He had it all planned out. Mewtwo had found a small and private clearing; it couldn't have been more than three meters in diameter. The sun shown down through the small opening in the trees, lighting the grass of the clearing and reflecting off the flowers which waved in the very gentle breeze.

There was also a basket filled with different treats and berries, the rim of the basket decorated with small flowers—cherry blossoms, Naiya's favorite—which Mewtwo had gathered from all over the Unova region. He couldn't believe his luck when he even found some wine, at the market in Driftveil City, that would be safe for Naiya to drink. He felt ready, but at the same time, he also felt very nervous, his heart was fluttering, and he kept feeling like something was missing.

Naiya…Naiya was missing; it was time to get her and bring her here, _It's time,_ Mewtwo thought to himself, _I want to spend the rest of my life with her. I'm ready._

"_Mewtwo?"_ Naiya was right behind him.

_I'M NOT READY!_ Mewtwo whirled around and recoiled in surprise when he saw Naiya standing right behind him, "_N-Naiya!_" She must've searched for his psychic signature and teleported to him. _No!_ He was supposed to _bring _her here! Already this wasn't going to plan.

He stiffened and his heart began pounding in his chest when Naiya peeked around him at the basket centered in the clearing. Whatever happened to his apathetic image? And his remarkable ability to stay level headed when the unexpected occurs? She stole it from him! _And I wouldn't have it any other way, _Mewtwo thought as he relaxed his shoulders and smiled, resigned to his fate.

Naiya had walked around him to examine the contents in the basket. The sunlight reflecting beautifully as her aura shimmered in the sun's rays. Once again, Mewtwo's heart seemed to skip a beat as her eyes lit up with excitement.

"_What…what's all this for?"_ Naiya asked, looking up at Mewtwo.

"_I wanted to do something special for today_." Mewtwo explained, _"However, I had hoped to surprise you…"_ He looked away sheepishly.

"_Well…I am surprised,"_ she assures him, grinning widely as she eyed the bottle of wine. Picking the bottle up, she looked at Mewtwo excitedly, "_Come on! Lets sit together."_

Mewtwo sat down next to Naiya and he managed to share a few bites of the pastries with her, but the butterflies in his stomach wouldn't settle and he had to stop. So instead, he sat back and watched Naiya as she sipped the wine from her glass.

"_Alright, what's wrong?_" she said after when she noticed Mewtwo staring.

"_Wrong? Nothing is wrong! Naiya_—," _Here goes nothing_, Mewtwo took a deep breath and took Naiya's free hand. She looked at it curiously, and set down the wine glass so Mewtwo could hold both her hands in his, "_Normally, the human custom for this is to get down on one knee, and some parts of me may be human…however, since you are a pokemon, I felt it was only right to follow a pokemon's custom."_

"_Well, the pokemon custom is to show off in some manner." _Naiya said, grinning impishly.

"_Or t-they…put together a nice display!"_ Mewtwo said, nodding towards the basket desperately, and beginning losing his resolve. _Please don't ask me to dance around foolishly!_ He silently prayed.

"_It's very nice,_" Naiya said, giggling, "_I love it,"_ she leaned forward and kissed him, "_I accept."_

Mewtwo's heart soared, "_But…I didn't even ask yet!"_

Naiya laughed for a few seconds, but quickly calmed down and locked eyes with Mewtwo, smiling, waiting patiently, her eyes shining.

"_Naiya…I want to spend the rest of my life with you, do you accept my proposal?"_

"_I do," _Naiya said, there was a strange look in here eyes though all of a sudden, "_but Mewtwo, the thing about that is...a Gardevoir's lifespan can be as long as four hundred years__—if they're lucky to survive the effects of their curse, or not put themselves in a position to endure it in the first place__—and a Mew's, I can only imagine, their lifespan is even longer…"_

Mewtwo knew what she was getting at, "_While that is true, there is something about the Mew species that I don't think you are aware of." _Confusion set in Naiya's eyes as he continued, "_Long ago, there were many Mews, and now, I only know of one. They would view it as a curse, until they themselves had fallen in love; a Mew's lifespan reduces to that of whom they have mated with from the moment a child is conceived from that love. So we _can_ grow old together."_

"_So long as a child is conceived..."_ Naiya said, thoughtfully. Suddenly though, something occurs to her, and she appears worried, "_What happens to the child then? __What would their maturity rate be?"_

"_Well, Mews mature in about a year. I have human DNA and am much larger than Mew, so I estimate my maturity rate would be about twenty years__—___Mew also told me that she detects my current aging to be about as slow as hers_____. The scientists sped my aging while creating me, so I don't know for sure, but it is somewhere around twenty years, that much I am sure of, and it__ is also very close with your species, Naiya.__.. A__fter that however, according to my sister, the child would most likely have a lifespan that averages between that of a Mew's and that of a Gardevoir's. We would watch our child grow up, but after reaching adulthood, I am afraid to say we won't be seeing much aging after that..."_

"_So they could have a very long life…"_ Naiya said thoughtfully, "_And how does your sister feel about this?"_

"_She's one of the few Mews who never viewed it as a curse; she told me about it. She thinks it's romantic that a Mew is willing to sacrifice their near-immortality to grow old with the one they love; I could see the sadness in her eyes because she understood what this would mean, but she wanted me to at least be aware._" Mewtwo told her, and then added quickly,_ "She was not trying to set us apart though; I hope you wouldn't think that of her!"_

"_I would never accuse her of such." _Naiya said, smiling reassuringly, "_She just wanted you to be making an informed decision___—and it is a big one Mewtwo_. You truly want to do this…for me?"_

"_Yes. For you." _Mewtwo said firmly.

And with that, he leaned forward and kissed her.


	15. Chapter 15

**A/N: Okay, fair warning. I am rating this chapter "M" for sexual content between two pokemon. However there are some parts in this chapter relevant to the story, so I will leave some Author Notes to let you know where the sexual content starts and ends in case there are some readers who are not comfortable with reading it.**

**So let's start with right now, this chapter is beginning with sexual content. Scroll to the next Author's note if you would rather not read it.**

* * *

Chapter 15

_Three and a half years ago (6 months before Genesect)_

Mewtwo put his hand on Naiya's shoulder as he kissed her, and gently pushed her to lie back onto the soft grass. He could taste the sweetness of the wine on her lips; it was intoxicating and addictive, and it twisted his thoughts as he deepened their kiss, wanting more.. Keeping balance on one elbow, he placed his hand on her cheek, ran his fingers through her hair then down her chest and let it rest at her waist.

Naiya began to trace her hands down his back, then up to his shoulders and around his ribs to his chest plate. Her gentle touches were stirring a new urge in him and driving him forward. His breath became shaky as he began to rub his body wantonly against Naiya's as her hands made their way down to his belly and around his hips.

Suddenly a low rumbling began in his chest, Naiya broke the kiss and began laughing, _"I didn't know you could purr!"_

Mewtwo was surprised by it too, "_Neither did I!"_

_"It feels nice though,"_ Naiya said, pulling Mewtwo closer, and closing her eyes dreamily.

Mewtwo's purr grew louder and more intense as he leaned forward to nuzzle her neck; kissing and gently nipping at the soft flesh. He could feel himself becoming aroused as his movements became more insistent.

Mewtwo felt as the slit between his legs opened up and his hardening member unsheathed. Naiya seemed to know exactly where to touch to put him in such a state. When he looked down at her face, she nodded, stating her readiness. But she didn't look ready to Mewtwo, she didn't seem nearly as turned on as he was, she seemed a little too focused. He had to correct that.

Placing his hand on Naiya's belly, Mewtwo slid it down to her inner thigh, gently pushing it to the side to allow his hand access. Then he brushed his hand back up along her leg to her most private and sensitive nook, gently stroking his fingers against her to stimulate her further.

There was a strange flash of frustration in Naiya's eyes, as Mewtwo was attempting to bring her to a more aroused state. He began nuzzling her again as he listened to her breathing becoming more and more rattled. When she tilted her head back, closing her eyes and moaned, Mewtwo could tell he was close. Once she grew wet from the ministrations of his fingers, Mewtwo then felt they both ready. He looked into Naiya's eyes and she lifted her legs, wrapping them around his hips and pulling him to her, almost demandingly. Mewtwo granted her wish and looked into her eyes as he began to slowly push himself inside her.

* * *

**And this marks the NEAR END of sexual content between Mewtwo and Naiya. However, the first paragraph AFTER this conversation, between Misty and Mewtwo, contains sex. If you don't want to read it, scroll past said paragraph and enjoy the rest of the chapter!  
**

* * *

"Misty, do you know what happens when two psychics are in the process of mating? As opposed to only one or neither of the partners being psychic."

"Is this part really relevant?" Misty asked, growing uncomfortable. Mewtwo wasn't going into any details with her, but she didn't prepare herself for ever having a conversation of this nature with Mewtwo. Mewtwo did understand her discomfort, however it was relevant, and when he nodded Misty sighed, "No, I don't know…"

"Their barriers drop, and their minds become one," Mewtwo began to explain, "sharing memories, and past experiences; all happening in a split second."

Misty detected the ominous tone in Mewtwo's voice and suddenly seemed afraid, "What did you see?" she asked quietly.

* * *

Mewtwo was purring loudly now, he kissed Naiya hungrily and she moaned with each thrust he made into her. Mewtwo felt his mind begin to go numb as he went deeper and deeper into his aroused state, he could feel his mental barriers begin to drop, leaving his mind fully exposed for Naiya's explorations. And, unable to stop herself, Naiya's barriers did the same; it was strange though, how she seemed to try and fight it…

Mewtwo was disoriented at first, when he felt time slow down as he entered the world of Naiya's memories; colors and shapes flew by his mental vision, until he was finally able to focus on one. He found himself in the backyard behind a small house; there was a garden along the fence on one side with a fire pit centered in that half of the yard, and a children's play set on the other half. Dividing the yard was a stone pathway leading from the patio of the house to the pond centered at the end of the backyard. Mewtwo turned around at the muffled sound of a young pokemon crying, there was a small, shiny Ralts, on her hands and knees, seemingly having tripped and scraped her knees on the stone pathway. An old man stood up from one of the chairs on the patio and rushed to young Naiya's aid. He picked her up, dusted her off, and walked her slowly to the pond._ This must be Naiya's earliest memory,_ Mewtwo thought as he smiled.

The vision shifted, and Mewtwo eagerly sought out the next memory. And he saw plenty more, Naiya learning to control her psychic powers, using basic psychic attacks. Mewtwo saw the day she evolved into a Kirlia, and he felt the same pride in his heart that he was sure the old man felt. Then there were memories of Naiya receiving coaching from other trainers; the old man was watching in the background, seemingly tired and having less energy than he did when Naiya was just a Ralts.

Then came the memory of the day she evolved into a Gardevoir, the old man looked at her, beaming with pride that he was able to raise that tiny Ralts into such an elegant creature; and he was proud of her too of course, for having come so far. After that, coming in in almost strobe-like flashes, Mewtwo saw the old man's condition worsen, Naiya aiding him in any way she could, the increasing helplessness in her eyes as nurses would visit the house and check on him more and more frequently. When it got to a point where the old man could no longer live in his home and had to be moved to a hospital, Naiya looked after the house, keeping it clean, and at night, she would teleport into his hospital room, sit next to him as he lay on his bed, growing more and more frail. Those last few images seemed to be on a loop until the day came where Naiya entered the hospital room and held the old man's hand. Mewtwo couldn't hear anything, but when he looked at the old man, his eyes seemed to be pleading as he was saying something to Naiya; he was afraid. As the man gripped Naiya's hand almost desperately, her eyes had shown with despair. The man smiled, and reached his hand up comfortingly to her cheek, his own fear quickly forgotten. Naiya seemed to force herself to smile back at him as her eyes glowed and the man's eyes drooped as he fell asleep. Mewtwo watched with sorrow filling his heart as the pulses on the heart monitor next to the bed started to show weaker and weaker, until the flat line came. In that moment, Naiya broke down in tears, bowing her head and crying in her anguish.

Then something else happened. As Naiya was crying, her body began to glow brightly and Mewtwo saw some parts of her begin to change. _Mega Evolution?_ Mewtwo thought, Naiya never told him that she managed the mega-evolved form of her species. When the glow faded, she looked drastically different; the plate on her chest split into two, her torso and skirt had turned to black, as did her hands and forearms_—_almost like she was wearing gloves that could stretch all the way up to her elbows. It was like she was already holding a private funeral for the old man.

However, she seemed oblivious to her drastic change as she continued in her grieving. Nurses began to rush into the room, but had stopped just past the doorway when they saw the sight of the mourning Gardevoir.

Mewtwo allowed the vision to shift again, and saw as the still-grieving Naiya was trying to join with the others of her kind. Some rejected her with anger, and others with sadness and regret; they couldn't let her in, otherwise they'd risk endangering their entire clan. Naiya was given some food to keep going and, with the pain of rejection in her eyes, she went on her way.

The vision shifted again, and Mewtwo was surprised to find that the next vision was not in the Pinwheel forest like he expected. It was a different forest, just on the outskirts of Floccesy Ranch, and it was the middle of winter. It was a gray day, and when Mewtwo looked around to find Naiya in the vision, he almost missed her; she had made a den underneath a large bush. It was rather sheltered, but when Mewtwo peeked into the den to see her, his heart cried out in despair for her; she was thin, and weak, obviously not getting enough food. But that wasn't the worst part; there were injuries all over her body, scratches and bruises from having lost a fight, most likely over food. She didn't seem like she was going to make it through the winter, worst of all, her curse seemed to have recurred; her eyes were void of all hope.

Mewtwo heard footsteps approaching from behind him and when he turned around, he felt rage at the newcomers, and fear for Naiya. It was a young woman in a Team Plasma uniform, and her partner pokemon, a Bisharp, the very one that Mewtwo saw attacking Naiya in the Pinwheel forest, and his darkness aura was flared to detect any threats.

They didn't seem to have noticed her den, and Mewtwo prayed they wouldn't. But like a predator attracted to the scent of its prey, that Bisharp sensed Naiya's Psychic presence, he turned and looked down, directly at the den. _No!_ Mewtwo thought.

The woman turned to the Bisharp, "What is it Donovan?"

Mewtwo raised an eyebrow at the oddly fitting name. He watched apprehensively as 'Donovan' walked over to the bush and lifted its branches, revealing Naiya.

"Oh, wow!" the woman exclaimed quietly, she rushed over to get a closer look at Naiya. This brought focus back into Naiya's eyes as she reacted in fear, moving as far back into her den as she could, "Hey, hey, calm down, it's alright. You seem to have been through enough as it is." Her voice sounded caring, but Mewtwo could see the desire in the woman's eyes; she had every intention to capture Naiya, "Donovan," she said turning to her Bisharp, he stood, waiting for his order, "run back to camp and fetch some food for this Gardevoir."

Naiya's eyes widened in surprise as Donovan sprinted off, but quickly returned to fear as the woman crawled into the small den, "It's alright," she said soothingly as she reached a hand out to Naiya, who was now trembling in fear, obviously too weak to defend herself. The woman placed her hand on Naiya's cheek and continued making soothing noises as she inched her body closer and closer to her. Wanting_—__needing__—_this comfort, Naiya leaned towards the woman and sobbed into her shoulder as the woman held her and rubbed her back comfortingly, "Poor girl; you're grieving!"

_This makes no sense!_ Mewtwo couldn't understand what was going on. Confusion setting in, he turned away from the scene to see Donovan returning with a container of food and a first aid kit.

Mewtwo frowned as the scene shifted. He needed answers, and while he hoped he would find them in the next vision, a small part of him also dreaded it.

When the next scene came into focus, he was in a lab, the tanks and machinery looked horrifically similar to that which he was cloned in. Mewtwo felt his anger flare up when he saw the woman shaking hands with the lead hunter of the group he saw in the Pinwheel forest. They had just struck a bargain.

"So, they finally found him." Mewtwo turned to the speaker to see Donovan smiling with satisfaction. Donovan looked past Mewtwo at whom he was talking to and began to walk forward, "You're sure you're ready for this?"

"I have to be," a voice answered calmly, Mewtwo felt his heart slam down into his stomach, it was Naiya, "We only have one shot at this, and we don't know how much longer he's going to be in Unova for."

Mewtwo turned as Donovan passed him, and watched as the Bisharp approached Naiya, careful not to accidently harm her with his blades, _This can't be true!  
_

"I'll be coming, to help those hunters out, they'll need someone to protect their minds from his _snooping_." Donovan said, as genuine remorse grew in his voice, he grabbed Naiya's hand. "I hate what I am ordered to do to you…to set this up."

"A few cuts and scrapes won't kill me," Naiya said reassuringly, pulling Donovan's hand to her cheek so she can nuzzle it. Narrowing her eyes at Donovan, she smiled slyly, "Ready for a battle before we go?"

Mewtwo's mind was whirling, _No! Show him fear! Show him hate! Look just a little reluctant, PLEASE!_ Mewtwo felt despair begin to overwhelm him as his world crumbled when the Naiya he knew dissipated like the illusion she turned out to be. He felt horror crushing his chest and cutting off his air as _this_ Naiya began to lean towards Donovan slowly, careful of the blades on his chest, _No…, _Donovan dipped his head for his lips to meet hers…

_NO!_


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

"_NO!"_

Mewtwo pulled away from Naiya and flew to the other end of the small clearing. He bent over and leaned against a tree, trying to catch his breath as his _aching_ member re-sheathed. His heart felt like it was being torn to shreds; she tricked him, she had been lying to him all along!

"_Mewtwo?"_ Naiya asked, innocently, "_What's wrong? Come on, we were almost finished."_ She wrapped her arm around him reassuringly.

But Mewtwo reacted as though her touch burned him; he wrenched away from her and held his arm out, using his telekinesis to send her flying back across the clearing and pinning her to a tree. Naiya cried out in pain from the impact_—_the sound piercing Mewtwo like a bullet. She opened her eyes and looked at him in confusion,_ "__Mewtwo—!__"_

_ "__Tell me it's not true…"_Mewtwo said quietly_, "__What I saw; you…those hunters…that Team Plasma woman…_DONOVAN_!"_Naiya's eyes lit with the realization at what he was referring to,_ "__Please Naiya…"_Mewtwo pleaded with her,_ "__Tell me it's not true…"_

The silence between them was deafening, as Naiya was obviously trying to come up with some way to do just that—to deny what Mewtwo saw.

But despite Mewtwo's pleas, they both knew it was futile. Mewtwo's veins turned to ice as he watched Naiya smile cruelly, "Would you believe me if I did?" she asked, her physical voice now grating on Mewtwo's ears. And that did it, the last string of hope, fighting to hold Mewtwo's heart together, finally snapped. Naiya flinched as though she felt the pain, _Oh! That's annoying!_ Mewtwo heard in her thoughts. Naiya's psychic powers sparked for half a second and, as the pain left her eyes, Mewtwo felt like his had doubled.

_ "__You're an empath…"_ Mewtwo suddenly realized, the horror in his mind growing as his legs gave out and he fell to his knees—a damn awkward position for him, but like he cared about that right now. It was so obvious now, she felt no love for him—she never did!—his feelings for her were so strong that he didn't even realize when she took some of that emotion from him and wore it like a mask!

Naiya looked on silently, her eyes narrowed in frustration. _I lost focus_, Mewtwo heard her scold herself, _So close! I was so_ close!_ Nearly two years, _wasted_, with nothing to show for it!_

Mewtwo felt anger flare up in him at her thoughts, overpowering everything else that he was feeling,_ "__What are you talking about…?"_He asked her. When she didn't answer, he tightened his psychic grip on her,_ "__What was all this for!? To capture me, is that it? To lure me in, and force me to work for Team Plasma? For your _master_?"_

Somehow the look in Naiya's eyes told him he was way off. But what else could it have been for?

Then it hit him like a bucket of ice to the back; all of her advances towards him, his feeling like they were moving too fast—a year and a half, was he crazy?! That may feel like plenty of time for a pokemon—hell, some pokemon don't even wait, some just take one look and let instinct take over—but Mewtwo always felt as though he would have dating standards that would be more on a human's ideal timeline. And yet, after just a few months between each step further in their relationship, he still pressed forward, blinded and _manipulated_ by Naiya's empathic abilities. And now…'so close'…

_"__To _breed _me…?"_ Mewtwo seethed, his voice barely above a whisper.

Naiya was smart to be feeling fear then, she had obviously done this sort of thing before—Mewtwo didn't know how many times, and he didn't want to know—she had the experience, but she had never dealt with a pokemon as powerful as he. She would never have been able to overpower him and force herself on him. No, with him, it was going to take time, and after all that time, she still failed.

_"__M-Mewt__—," _Naiya began, but the look of fury he shot at her silenced her.

Tears began streaming down his face as he snarled at her; he's been betrayed before, sure, but the scientists, and Team Rocket—even Giovanni _himself!_—had _never_ made Mewtwo feel so…so _violated._

Mewtwo tightened his psychic grip on Naiya, focusing the power now around her neck. Her eyes widened in terror as her air was cut off. He should kill her—he _knew_ he should!—for what she was capable of, for what she had been trying to do, it would be too dangerous to do otherwise. But he felt so torn, it may not have been real for her, and maybe not as real as it felt for him, but he couldn't bring himself to kill her. The Naiya that he loved _was_ real; the Naiya that he loved was the one that the old man raised. And she remembered that side of herself too; well enough that she was able to put on such a convincing act to make Mewtwo think that was still who she was. _And in doing this…she's betrayed him too!_

Mewtwo slowly rose back on his feet as he released his hold on Naiya, and she fell to her hands and knees, gasping for air. Reaching a hand to her neck, Naiya looked up at Mewtwo in shock, surprised that he was sparing her life.

_"__If I ever see you again…if I ever find out that you and your _master_ are still in pursuit of me…I will kill you,"_ Naiya looked at him blankly, and then flinched as Mewtwo raised his voice, "_YOU HEAR ME!?"_ She lowered her head and nodded meekly, knowing he would not spare her a second time.

There were no parting words for her as Mewtwo levitated into the air and flew from the clearing, heading directly to Lostlorn Forest. He couldn't take his rage out on Naiya, but he had to take it out on _something_. As the den came into view, Mewtwo summoned a Shadow Ball and hurled it at the place that became his and Naiya's home. The place had to be destroyed; it was far too tainted by a false love to be allowed to remain.

As Mewtwo set foot on the ground, he bagan thrashing his anger and his powers carelessly in every direction, yowling with every attack he summoned, it didn't matter, every inch of Lostlorn Forest held traces of him and Naiya that must be eliminated.

By the time Mewtwo was ready to flee Lostlorn forest, it was in shambles; the pokemon who also made the forest home had fled to safety. He didn't have enough energy left in him to teleport away. In fact, he had very little power left at all, he tried to fly as far as he could from the forest, which was not far at all, just on the outskirts, and he was exhausted. Mewtwo fell from the air and crashed to the ground hard, in a large field just outside of Lostlorn Forest. Mewtwo curled into a tight ball, covering his head with his arms and wrapping his tail around himself, blocking out as much sunlight as he could.

He lay like that, cursing himself and his_ idiocy_. He let her get to him, he let her; she was in his head right from the start, slowly wrapping her fingers around his self-control and taking it! All while maintaining the illusion that he was still making his own decisions.

Mewtwo felt something in him change and he felt nauseous from it—as if he needed anything else to set him off—he balled up his fist and slammed it into the ground repeatedly as he screamed out his anguish; his throat hoarse and his physical voice high-pitched from the strain.

"_Mewtwo!_" For one awful second he thought Naiya had dared to follow him, but then he realized it was Mew's telepathic voice, "_What's wrong? I can sense your distress_."

"_Mew—,_" Mewtwo started, his own telepathic voice sounded oddly as high-pitched as his physical voice, but he quickly wrote it off as his emotions affecting his telepathy, "_Naiya…she's an empath…she betrayed me…_"

"_Naiya?_" Mew responded in disbelief, Mewtwo wasn't making much sense to her, "_No…she wouldn't—_"

"SHE USED ME!" Mewtwo roared sitting up and launching a Psyco Cut attack at the trees, slicing them clean in half and watching as they crashed to the ground. Mewtwo grabbed his head in agony from his overused powers, and lied back down on the ground, "_At least…she tried to…it was all a set up, right from the start…but she didn't succeed. She was so close though—too close._"

"_Oh no..._" Mew said as she then realized what Mewtwo was talking about. Such methods were not unheard of, and Naiya, obviously with the use of her empathic powers, was able to pull the wool over even Mew's eyes, "_Mewtwo…_"

"_Mew…_" Mewtwo was very tempted to relapse, to go yowling back to New Island. He didn't want to give in to that though, not again, but he needed the help he didn't have last time to stop himself before things escalated, "_Sister, help me…please_."

"_Alright Mewtwo, I'll teleport to you_," Mew said, a more maternal instinct kicking in, "_I just—I'm having a little trouble sensing your location. Can you tell me where you are?"_

_She can't sense my location?_ Something about that was very wrong. Mewtwo sat up and looked around.

"_There might just be a Dark type pokemon near you._" Mew continued, trying to be reassuring, but with that, both she and Mewtwo realized the danger he was still in. Mewtwo leapt to his feet and moved into a defensive stance, as Mew's voice became panicked, "_Mewtwo tell me where you are! Now!"_

"_I'm—_" Something cut across his left shoulder and Mewtwo fell forward, unable to stop himself, landing hard on his chest and jaw.

"_Mewtwo!_" Mew cried out, _"What happened? Tell me where you are! Let me help!"_

_"Mew! I'm just north of Lostlorn Forest! Hurry!_" Mewtwo quickly told her.

"_Mewtwo, please answer me where are you?!_"

She couldn't hear him! And her voice was growing quieter as the Darkness aura around him began to block out all his senses.

Mewtwo heard footsteps walk around him as Donovan and his trainer came into his field of vision.

"Well done Donovan," the woman said as she released a Reuniclus from a pokeball, "Go fetch Naiya," she ordered, the Reuniclus teleported to Naiya, returning a few seconds later with the Gardevoir. "Mission report?" The woman asked, and Naiya shook her head, as her trainer looked her up and down, "So he was gentleman enough to burn you up that much, only for neither of you to finish?"

Mewtwo hissed in fury at her mocking tone, but was ignored by all but Donovan, who only smirked in amusement at Mewtwo.

"Is that wine I smell on you?" the woman asked, and Naiya dipped her head in shame, "I'm not going to reprimand you for that, because we have him now. However I assume that's what led to you losing focus and him finding out the truth?" Naiya nodded her head. The woman looked at Mewtwo, grinning cruelly, "Well, I'll just take a sample and we can finish the job at the lab." She crouched down and pulled off her backpack.

Mewtwo's stomach twisted in terror and revulsion; they were going to take a semen sample! They would kill him after that no doubt, he'd be nothing but a liability to them alive, but he'd be leaving one of his own children at the mercy of Team Plasma!

Naiya stepped forward, her eyes glowing in a Hypnosis attack, and he was too weak to fight it. In his mind though, putting him to sleep was a mercy, Mewtwo did not want to be there when they did this to him.

Just before he fell asleep, Mewtwo heard Donovan's voice.

"I told you you'd regret it."


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17

There was silence in the living room as Mewtwo broke the truth to Misty about Naiya; only the gentle crackling of the fireplace provided any sound. Misty was staring down at the coffee table blankly, her mind seemingly unsure of what emotion to feel first. To Mewtwo, it felt like he'd placed a heavy burden on her shoulders, one that did not at all lighten the load that he was already carrying; if anything, it felt like he'd only added to it.

Misty spoke first, "How…how are you still alive?" She quickly looks up, "Not that I'm complaining! I just—you seemed so sure that they were going to—."

Mewtwo cut her off, "Because they couldn't get what they wanted."

It took her a moment, but soon after, Misty's eyes widened in realization, "That was the first day you…transformed."

Mewtwo nodded, "It was a fluke; I didn't even realize it had happened at the time. It was also the reason Team Plasma captured me and held me prisoner. I daresay that _particular_ transformation saved my life."

Silence fell once again, and Mewtwo felt that tightness in his throat increase. He stood quickly to enter the kitchen, filling a glass of cold water at the sink and gulping it down to soothe the pain in his throat; he then filled one for Misty just in case.

When Mewtwo returned, he saw as Misty quickly wiped her eyes, trying to hide how his story was hurting her. He sighed and approached Misty, holding out the water for her, she accepted it gratefully and nearly finished the glass by the time Mewtwo had sat back down on his spot on the couch.

Misty reached behind her to one of the many blankets strewn out in front of the fireplace and wrapped herself in it, "Do you know when it started?" she asked, she was obviously trying to keep her emotions under control, but Mewtwo could detect anger in her voice. When Mewtwo didn't answer, Misty clarified, "Do you know when she started using those…powers…to manipulate you?"

"Obviously the first day we met," Mewtwo said, "I remember feeling intense anger, then and eerily calm the moment I teleported her with me to Lostlorn."

"Was there more to it than just her placing these emotions in you? I don't exactly know much about empathic powers other than what every psychic is capable of," Misty said, "but the way you talk about it, it's like Naiya had a different ability altogether."

"For one thing, it's not as easy to detect from an empath; if it came from just a regular psychic, then even you would be able to detect it happening in your mind, Misty. But for empaths, even the most powerful psychics would have to pay very close attention," Mewtwo explained, "For implanting or removing an emotion in a target, it comes at a cost. Take the first day for example, I felt anger, rage, and then calm, all of which are opposite to fear."

"And Naiya was terrified," Misty said, understanding in her voice, "so that was how she tricked you into letting your guard down around her." She was silent for a moment, and she looked down regretfully, "I hate to ask this but…where did the love come from?"

"You are correct to assume that Naiya sparked that flame in me, but _I_ helped her stoke it," Mewtwo admitted, "The love came from grief, adding to what she was feeling already, I was a fool to have missed that one; she wasn't very reluctant to tell her story despite the cost it would have on her."

Misty's eyebrows raised, "What do you mean by that?"

* * *

_Three and a half years ago (6 months before Genesect)_

Dragging, being held by his arms, muffled noises, quiet, but somehow a sensory overload, and an incomprehensible series of blurs. That was the limit to Mewtwo's spatial awareness for the past half-hour. The darkness aura surrounding him was smothering; it kept him from waking from the Hypnosis attack and left him too disoriented to even think of what to do first, wake or escape? The answer to that should've been obvious, but Mewtwo's muddled mind couldn't even prioritize those two simple steps.

Mewtwo felt his captors stop, and heard a creaking noise, _Door…heavy one…_, what to do about that though? He felt something sharp stab into his spine—the part that curved, forming the second neck—_Needle…pain…what did it do? Does it…matter?_

Mewtwo felt his body jerk and the arms supporting him disappear. Immediately after, pain exploded in his left shoulder and temple as he landed on the floor awkwardly and his head cracked against the floor. Mewtwo's eyes shot open, having snapped out of his trance. _SLAM!_ He scrambled to his feet at the loud noise of the heavy door shutting behind him, trapping him in the room he was thrown into, only to fall to one knee, disoriented, one hand on the floor and the other on his forehead, gingerly feeling the bruise as the lump began to form. Thankfully, his shoulder wasn't much worse, just bruising and sore.

Slowly, he lifted his head to find himself in a concrete, windowless room—he couldn't sense anything, so he knew this was a room specifically designed to imprisoning psychics—one light overhead only adding to the cold, dreary feeling. _Quite a dungeon…_Mewtwo thought sourly. He examined the room further, _Straw in the corner, for a nest. Two cameras in top corners, opposite eachother, no surprise there. Bowls—food and water I assume…_ Mewtwo curled his lip in disgust, he couldn't believe he was being picky over who his captors were, but he could imagine Team Rocket actually treating him better, if they weren't going to resort to putting him in a stasis tank or just outright killing him. Mewtwo eyed the left corner, _Lastly…they're joking right?_ It was a box of sand; that was all Mewtwo was going to deduce from that.

Mewtwo walked over to the straw pile and sat with his back against the corner. Full view of the whole room, no one was sneaking up on him. Mewtwo couldn't believe how he was being treated here—actually, he could—he remembered reading reports about other criminal organizations during his days in Team Rocket, and each of them all had their different views of where the line is drawn between human and pokemon, humane and inhumane, decent and demeaning. Back then, Mewtwo had thought the reports on Team Plasma in particular were rather dramatized, and exaggerated; was he ever wrong.

His head was throbbing, but Mewtwo decided he had to know what his capabilities and limits were with this concussion before he accidentally put himself into a psy-induced coma. He grabbed a handful of the prickly straw and held it out, concentrating on it.

Nothing happened. Not even a spike in his headache, like what he expected. Even if Mewtwo was in a coma, he would have access to minimal psychic powers allowing him to astral-project and interact with his surroundings that way, so how—_THAT DAMNED NEEDLE!_ Mewtwo clenched his teeth and growled, throwing the straw across the room angrily.

It seemed he wasn't the only one who was angry though, he heard someone shouting just beyond the door. It was that woman, Naiya's and Donovan's trainer.

Mewtwo glanced up through narrowed eyes as the door opened and Naiya stepped into the room. She had donned her Mega Evolved form, and seemed to be controlling it rather well, her face looking rather smug as she saw Mewtwo in his current state. Naiya's trainer appeared in the doorway and pointed a finger at her, "Fix it," was all she said. Naiya smiled and gave a small bow to her trainer before the woman slammed the door shut and the shouting continued. _Guess it's not Naiya she is angry with_, Mewtwo thought, feeling a pang of disappointment.

The smile disappeared from Naiya's face as she glared at Mewtwo, "You have displeased Isabella," she said.

"(Mew mew mew) Is that her name?" Mewtwo asked sarcastically, cocking an eyebrow. Strange, his physical voice never sounded this high-pitched; then again, his throat was still sore.

"And here I thought you weren't able to speak in the _natural_ pokemon language." Naiya commented.

Mewtwo scowled, the way she emphasized that one word… In a series of mews, he asked, "Is there something wrong about me doing so now?"

Naiya shrugged, "I simply expected you'd try and speak English vocally before resorting to the pokemon languages."

"I'd sooner keep my tongue, thank you. It'll make eating whatever slop is put into those bowls easier…and faster," Mewtwo said, Naiya cocked an eyebrow questioningly, "Don't deny it, Team Plasma cannot _fathom_ the idea of humanizing any pokemon, even one that _is_ half-human. And if not take it, they'd sew my tongue to the bottom of my mouth, no?" Mewtwo felt his simmering anger begin to boil as Naiya smirked, confirming his suspicion, "You got what you wanted, so if I must be here, then why keep me alive?"

"Because we _didn't_ get what we wanted!" Naiya shouted, scowling again; that was a volume Mewtwo never heard her reach, so it was slightly jarring, "Either you're waiting in some smug satisfaction for me to say it, or you're really just that _stupid_."

"Say _what_?" Mewtwo asked confusedly.

Naiya scoffed, "Well, that answers that," she commented. Mewtwo clenched his fist, "Can you_ really_ not hear yourself?"

Mewtwo sat silently. _What is she referring to? Something about me prevented them from taking a semen sample, but what could that have to do about my…voice…_ Mewtwo's eyes widened in disbelief as his hands began to explore his body, starting at the face and moving down. There were subtle changes, but they were there; narrower in the face, smaller shoulders, somewhat smaller hands, the hips were ever-so-slightly wider, and the small slit between his legs…her legs…_Did I…?_

Noticing the look on Mewtwo's face, Naiya waves a hand dramatically and turns away, "Finally, _she_ figures it out!"

Mewtwo allowed a few moments to calm himself—herself—taking deep breaths, before wiping the shock from…her face. "So…this is what got your master so riled…"

"Actually, no," Naiya said turning back to Mewtwo, "Symbios is dead."

_Oh, these names!_ Mewtwo thought in exasperation, she could definitely see the pattern now. Rolling her eyes, "Let me guess…the Reuniclus," Mewtwo said, not really caring at the moment, "It was Isabella who gave you your name wasn't it? Not the old man."

"You're going to regret that," Naiya said, tears in her eyes.

Mewtwo had high doubts for her threat, "Pray tell, how did_ Symbios_ manage to die in the past half-hour without me conjuring half a thought?"

"Your _moggy_ sister killed him!"

Mewtwo couldn't resist a smirk at that insult, and biting the inside of her cheek didn't even help. However, Naiya's answer did surprise her,_ Mew? Kill?_ That was completely against her nature, even Mewtwo's stunt on New Island didn't get her so _murderous_—it was a long time before Mewtwo accepted that Mew, with her thousands of years of experience, was going easy on him that day, trying to calm him down; Mew was ashamed that Ash was nearly killed due to her stalling. But _this_ was a surprise, "So, Mew did find us then, figures she'd check Lostlorn and feel the void of that _Bisharp's_ darkness aura."

"Yeah, she found us. Donovan sensed her presence half a second before she launched some sort of psy-_spear_ right through Symbios' _head!_" Naiya shrieked, "We barely had time to get Donovan into his pokeball so that _I_ could teleport us out of there!"

"Well _forgive me_ for not sympathizing with you!" Mewtwo retorted, feeling tears come to her eyes. Naiya smirked darkly, and that unnerved Mewtwo, "How are you smiling? Your curse is active _and_ someone else you apparently care about is _dead_!"

Naiya continued smiling—even began chuckling under her breath—as she turned away and headed for the door. She gave one more glance over at Mewtwo before knocking.

Mewtwo wiped the tears from her eyes, only for them to be replaced with twice as many, _No! No, she wouldn't—!_ Oh but she would, and she did. Tears streaming from her eyes, Mewtwo glared at Naiya as the door opened and she left the room, beaming with pride at her "good" work.

Mewtwo felt ill, and as sobs began to wrack her body, she curled up on the stiff straw, facing the wall, and succumbed to Naiya's grief. Mewtwo didn't care that someone could easily sneak up on her now, she didn't care that both cameras were trained directly on her, she didn't care about the drastic change her body had gone through resulting in the beginning of a long list of tortures awaiting her. At the moment…

She just didn't care.


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18

Misty's hand was covering her mouth, her horror-stricken eyes fixated on Mewtwo. He did not meet her gaze, "In her stead, I was forced to grieve for an old man whom I don't even know the name of."

"She could do that? All along?" Misty asked, "_Override_ her curse?"

"She was one of the very few Gardevoir who could. If she wasn't shunned from the clans for being a shiny, she would've been for _that,_" Mewtwo said sadly.

"My god…" Misty started, but she trailed off. After a few moments, she shook her head, as though reprimanding herself for letting her emotions get the best of her. It was obvious to Mewtwo that she didn't want him to stop now, not after having gone so far and reaching a point in the story such as this one. It probably would've been wiser to end the story at the moment of his capture, because obviously he had managed to escape. But then Misty would've wondered about Naiya, so he didn't want to finish the story with that loose end.

* * *

_Three and a half years ago (6 months before Genesect)_

The one and only upside about Naiya's curse was that it doubled as Mewtwo's timekeeper. It had been about three days that she was in that room, alone, and undisturbed_—_save for the randomized times when a Team Plasma grunt would come in and replace whatever was put into the food dish previously. Mewtwo never even looked at the so-called "food" they left for her, let alone feel at all inclined to consume such garbage. The injections that inhibited Mewtwo's psychic power were also administered daily, so really the randomized times for anything were rendered obsolete

Mewtwo hardly moved from her spot in the straw; still facing the wall, still curled into a pitiful ball of now very unkempt fur.

Mewtwo heard the door open, yet again, but even with the randomized times, it was too soon to have been for replacing the next serving of poison. Mewtwo's very-empty stomach turned over when Naiya's scent wafted over to her, "Stay away from me," Mewtwo growled.

Naiya ignored the warning, "_Poor_ Mewtwo," she said in mock sympathy as she came over to kneel behind her. Mewtwo's heart twisted painfully and her body shuddered in revulsion as Naiya brushed a hand along her shoulders and up her arm, picking at a few of the mats that were forming, and smoothing the fur, "I _can_ make this all go away if you'd like~."

"I know what your price is and I am not going to pay it," Mewtwo said bluntly, she had no intention of ever mastering this transformation, if she was to be female for the rest of her life_—_however short it ends up being—then so be it.

"You would subject yourself to this pain?" Naiya asked, "Willingly?"

_Better me than any daughter of mine…_ Mewtwo thought to herself.

There was silence as Naiya_—_having read Mewtwo's mind_—_thought over Mewtwo's unspoken response. Then, while Mewtwo didn't see it, a sickeningly-sweet smile spread across Naiya's face "_Aww_, that's _adorable_! You long for a little girl! Rather than a son to pass the mantle down to? How precious."

_What mantle?_ Mewtwo thought, _I'm an estranged, self-proclaimed 'legendary' with no purpose. There is no mantle._

Reading Mewtwo's mind _again_, "Oh, don't think like that," Naiya says mockingly, as she wraps her arm around Mewtwo from behind and leans on her, nuzzling her cheek sweetly.

That was a mistake. Mewtwo reached around and grabbed Naiya by the throat and rolled herself on top of the Gardevoir, squeezing her fingers, and this time, with no intention of letting go. To try and end it quick, Mewtwo began to unsheathe her claws_—_deadly, hooked talons meant more for gripping than slicing, but that didn't make them any less dangerous near the carotid artery. Hackles lifted, fur bristling, fangs bared in an ugly snarl, Naiya's last image of Mewtwo was going to be quite a sight.

Or, that would be the case, if _Naiya_ couldn't still use her psychic powers. Next thing Mewtwo knew, her fingers were wrenched open by an invisible force, and she was blown back to the opposite end of the room—her back exploding with pain and the breath knocked out of her as she hit the wall and collapsed to the ground.

Mewtwo heard the door swing open and Isabella rushed into the room, retreating with Naiya, who was still gasping for breath, there was also a small amount of blood trickling down her neck, nothing that would kill her—Mewtwo felt a slight pang of disappointment at that, and was disgusted with herself that the disappointment was only slight, _Why should I care? I told her that killing her would be my intention if she continued to pursue me, and I _don't _make empty threats_. When the door closed again, Mewtwo knew she wasn't alone in the room. She opened her eyes to see Donovan standing at the door, anger in his eyes as he scowled down at Mewtwo—who was still too dazed to get up—for daring to harm _his_ Naiya. Slowly, he made his way over to Mewtwo...

And the tortures began.

* * *

"Donovan came in regularly after that," Mewtwo told Misty, "every day he'd beat me, and cut into me, then Naiya would come in acting as a balm, patching my wounds and offering me the same deal. I still refused to eat, and I was just getting weaker and weaker."

"You were just going to accept death?" Misty asked, anger and concern in her voice, "Just like that?"

"No," Mewtwo said, "I just couldn't bring myself to do any of the self care routines; eat, sleep, groom. I don't know if it was Naiya's curse the put me in such a depressed state, or if her true colors were having a larger impact on me than I could bear. Or perhaps it was just Naiya, I never knew what was happening on the other side of that door, and as long as she wasn't in the room, I couldn't tell what was me and what was her. For all I knew, she was drunk off an inexplicable giddiness by adding to the pain I was already feeling."

Misty cringed. She couldn't imagine what it must've been like, unable to stop such a power, being forced to succumb to it without being aware, or even when the victim _wa__s_ aware, and the only defense being knowledge, memories, and thoughts of what should be felt—"_Keep fighting!_" the thoughts would say, "_You can't give up__"_ But they had no power to provide any motivation. _The strength Mewtwo had came literally from nothing_, Misty thought, she didn't think she would've been able to bear it.

Mewtwo sighed, and continued, "When Donovan's tortures were obviously not going to work, Isabella actually came in with a needle filled with testosterone boosters to trigger a transformation," Misty's heart stopped at hearing that, "_That_ almost worked, and resisting it the way I was, left me feeling very ill. And because of my sever lack of self-care, Team Plasma had to move me to a stasis tank for a couple weeks to pump nutrients back into my body and restore my physical strength."

"Then after that: pain," Misty said quietly, she knew this part of Mewtwo's captivity within Team Plasma—excluding Naiya. He'd described it as more advanced versions of the machines used on Mt Quena.

"Yes, they had finally run out of options and were running out of time," Mewtwo confirmed, "So they were reduced to simply causing me pain; constant, boring, _electrifying_ pain. And I cheered that day, believing I had won."

* * *

_Three and a half years ago (4 months before Genesect)_

This was familiar; Mewtwo was suspended in the air, trapped in a crucifixion pose once again, enduring the constant stream of electricity surging from the machines through and into her body. The psychic inhibiting drugs wore off long ago, but that didn't matter, the machines that held Mewtwo had their own dampeners, and as an extra precaution, the walls of the lab heavily suppressed the use of all psychic powers.

Mewtwo chuckled through the remains of Naiya's curse_—_somehow, even in this room, that was still active; then again, empathic powers had a strange way of working even on Dark types_—_her male form had gone through this torture on Mt Quena, now it was like her female form was having a christening of its very own.

"Is something funny to you?"

"Isabella~." Mewtwo greeted in a mockingly cheerful tone. She looked down at the woman to see that she scowled when Mewtwo began to speak English. Naiya and Donovan were accompanying her, "Come to keep me company?"

Isabella waved a hand at the grunt on the other side of the window, and he turned one of the many dials. Mewtwo grit her teeth when the electricity increased momentarily, "Consider that a reprimand," she said.

"For speaking English? You asked me a question," Mewtwo replied innocently, still managing to smirk at Isabella, "I suppose that is the best you can do now though, under the circumstances; taking me down from here to do _whatever_ to my tongue would provide me a reprieve from this," she said, gesturing to the machines, before sarcastically finishing with, "But neither of us want that."

Isabella stormed out of the room with Donovan accompanying her, and they entered the viewing room, looking Mewtwo dead in the eye as Isabella turned up the dial spitefully. Mewtwo cried out from the sudden intensity, her back arching as all the muscles in her body tensed painfully.

"Are you trying to kill it?!" the grunt asked, the patch on his shoulder showed that he was new to the science division of Team Plasma.

_'It'…_ Mewtwo thought, _I was a 'he' before transforming into a female; perhaps they simply don't know what to call me at this point, considering I could change again at any given point. Or perhaps they simply wish to degrade me even further—not that '_It'_ is anything new_. The fact that Mewtwo could hear them told her that they either planned for her to hear everything they intended to do, as some form of psychological torture, or they just didn't care.

Isabella rolled her eyes, "Please," she said as she pointed an accusing finger at Mewtwo, "This _thing's_ body was manufactured to withstand worse than this."

"You say it like it's my fault," Mewtwo managed through clenched teeth, the electricity increased another level.

"Why don't we just clone it and breed that clone?" the grunt asked.

"Three reasons," Isabella answered, "One, this one's DNA is unstable enough as it is. Two, this one is tedious enough as it is, considering what we have read in the Rocket reports about it's _brooding_ nature. And three, we are on a time limit due to a rabid Mew terrorizing the organization all over the Unova region!"

Mewtwo felt a glimmer of pride for her sister, she didn't think that pink ball of fluff and rainbows _could_ generate such fear in the heart of Team Plasma.

"Don't look so smug," Naiya said, looking up at Mewtwo, "If she shows up here, you know we have the equipment here to contain her. And we would have use for her, dead or alive—most likely dead—and that grunt's idea might actually work," Mewtwo scowled down at Naiya as she continued, "However, _your_ services would no longer be required."

The grunt was stupid enough to speak up again, "When you used the testosterone boosters, did you knock it out?"

Mewtwo chuckled under her breath, knowing what Isabella's answer was going to be, "No you idiot," she said, beginning to lose her patience, "Transform is a _conscious_ ability, and Mewtwo would need to be conscious enough to do so, however if it is, it would also conscious enough to resist the boosters just as it did before."

"Give it up already," Mewtwo told the grunt, "Everything you suggest, she's already thought of."

The grunt ignored her, "What about impregnating the Mewtwo instead? It cannot transform if it is pregnant, and we'd be getting the kitten either way."

Isabella nearly lost her temper at Mewtwo's daring grin, "Since you're being so talkative today, care to answer that one for me?"

No hesitation from Mewtwo, "Cats self-abort," she answered, darkly smug, "In most cases, due to an abnormality detected in one or more of the fetuses," she paused for dramatic effect before repeating, "most cases. Also the clock is ticking~."

"Then clone that!" the grunt said to Isabella exasperatedly.

"I told you, we don't have the time!" Isabella retorted, "Honestly, even having _Mewtwo _tell you that hasn't made it sink in yet! That Mew is closing in on this base, so at this point, getting the embryo into Naiya is our only hope because it would be safer and easier to move her if need be…at least compared to the damned cloning equipment."

"Well then what about surrogacy?!"

All was silent save for the crackling of the electricity. Mewtwo felt her heart stop, _No…_ she thought.

"Say that again," Isabella said to the grunt.

"Surrogacy; Mewtwo's egg, Naiya's womb, and…Donovan's sperm?" the grunt suggested, gesturing to the Bisharp next to Isabella.

Mewtwo donned a blank look when Isabella looked over at her, but it was futile; the moment she looked at Naiya and watched as the Gardevoir nodded, sensing Mewtwo's despair, Mewtwo knew it was all over.

Isabella's eyes shined victoriously, "Get a hold of your superiors, this needs to be done quickly." She looked over at Donovan, "Let's kill it before it has the chance to cause us anymore trouble."

Mewtwo's heart was pounding as Isabella began to leave the room, "(Mew…mew…) Naiya…please no…" Mewtwo pleaded, and continued, "Don't do this…"

"You know as well as I that even if I wanted to defy Isabella and stop this, I don't have that authority," she said, turning to face her.

"I won't allow it!" Mewtwo shouted, struggling to free herself. The grunt inside the viewing room turned up the voltage again, causing Mewtwo to cry out in pain.

Naiya sighed in mock resignation, "Why do you keep trying to fight this? Don't you see? It's all over for you! All that pain and suffering you put yourself through has been for _nothing!"_

Mewtwo ignored her, resuming her struggling desperately once the voltage was turned down again. Isabella and Donovan entered the lab and began to walk up to the two psychics. '_Never give up until the very end_', Ash's words provided Mewtwo with a new energy, energy born from a desperate survival instinct, and she let it begin to flow through her body.

"Honestly, _give up_ already!" Naiya continued as Isabella drew her gun and pointed it at Mewtwo, then, raising her voice, "I don't understand why you keep fighting for something that you'll be too dead to fret over in the future! It's not like anyone here would ever have given you a chance to rescue your precious _spawn._"

When the next wave of increased electricity surged through Mewtwo's body, she did not feel it. Nor did she feel anything as her renewed strength unlocked something deep within her. And Mewtwo did not notice the grunt, as he began looking at the computer screens with widening eyes, his fingers flying across the keyboards. No, Mewtwo was too focused on what Naiya had just said. Naiya smiled with satisfaction, as Mewtwo seemed to stop fighting.

_BANG!_ The sound of a gunshot echoed across the room. And everyone was frozen in a tense silence. There were a number of thoughts racing through Mewtwo's head.

One, there were _thoughts_ racing through her head.

Two, she _heard_ that gunshot; that shouldn't be possible at this close range, she should've been dead before the sound registered in her mind

"N-Naiya," Isabella stammered; the bullet had stopped right in front of Mewtwo's forehead, aimed between the eyes, "_What _did you say?"

And three...

"_Spawn…?_" Mewtwo drawled out the word, answering Isabella's question for Naiya. She bared her fangs as her face contorted in anger. _So it wouldn't even matter if they were born_, "Is that _all_ they would be to you?"

"Isabella!" The grunt shouted through the speaker, "Mewtwo's psychic threshold has tripled!"

Isabella's eyes widened in horror. Naiya looked over at the grunt, confused, "What?" she asked.

The grunt didn't need a translator to know Naiya didn't understand, but he was a fool to have said that out loud; Mewtwo wasted no time; she focused on the new energy within her and aimed it at the machines restraining her. Donovan leaped towards Mewtwo, blades ready and aimed for her neck. Mewtwo sent the bullet straight at him, burying it deep in the Bisharp's skull, and he fell to the floor. Naiya screamed in horror for the sudden loss of her mate, her hands covering her mouth.

Mewtwo began to feel a transformation occur in her body, it was a new one, a different transformation, so this time, as the world around her faded into a red haze of anger, she didn't stop it.

"RUN!" the grunt shouted.

Naiya couldn't teleport from within the room—her powers weren't nearly as strong as Mewtwo's newfound ones—so, urged by Isabella, she immediately made a mad dash to the door.

She would never make it.


	19. Chapter 19

**Hello readers! So sorry this one took me so long! I wanted to wrap up Mewtwo's backstory so that I could continue with the main story! As always, I hope you enjoy the chapter, and I look forward to reading the reviews!**

* * *

Chapter 19

_Three and a half years ago (4 months before Genesect)_

_Please,_ Mew thought, tears in her eyes as she sped over the forest towards the western area of Unova, _Please still be alive…_

Under normal circumstances, when problems occur in a region, only the legendaries native to that region are permitted to interfere if they deem it necessary. However, because Mewtwo was still a wandering legendary, not anchored to a particular region—not to mention, also Mew's _brother_—Mew gained Arceus' approval for her to take part in the search for Mewtwo.

Legendaries all over the world were also searching their respective regions, in case Team Plasma had branches outside Unova. Mewtwo may not have been a favourite among most legendaries, but they all understood the gravity of a situation where a pokemon as powerful as he ends up in the hands of criminals such as Team Plasma.

Mew had contacted the former king of Team Plasma—now branded a traitor by them—N, and demanded to know where all the Plasma bases were. When he heard that Mewtwo was captured, he was more than willing to give Mew all the information he had.

_There are only three bases left, _Mew thought despairingly, _Please, please_—

"Mew!" A voice sounded behind her.

"Victini!" Mew slowed down in her flight to let the pixie-like pokemon catch up, and Meloetta was with him, "Any luck in your area?"

Victini's shoulders drooped sadly, "No, I'm sorry Mew. There was nothing in Undella Bay." Of all the areas mapped where a known Team Plasma base was located, there were also a number of empty spaces, so while Mew tore the known bases apart in search of her brother, the local Unova legendaries made in-depth searches of the unknown areas; Victini and Meloetta in the east, Kyurem, Zekrom and Reshiram in the north, Cobalion and Terrakion in the central area, Thundurus, Tornadus and Landorus in the west, and Keldeo and Verizion in the south. _Keldeo… poor Keldeo,_ Mew thought to herself, _He's taking this harder than most._ After the horrible first impression between Mewtwo and Arceus, Mewtwo had left the Sinnoh region on a sour note. Keldeo, currently training to be a Sword of Justice, suggested the Unova region to him next, hoping it would lift his spirits. _He really looks up to Mewtwo too…_

Breaking from her thoughts, "Don't be sorry, Victini," Mew reassured him, "It's a _good _thing that there weren't any extra bases in your area. There were a few in the north and south that N had no knowledge of so I was going into those ones blind, or wasting time I might not even have, to assess the danger."

"Time you might not even have…" Meloetta echoed. Seemingly hesitant, she looked up at Mew, "Mew, neither you nor Arceus really told us what they wanted with Mewtwo. If they were trying to force Mewtwo to fight for them, he would never give in, and even they would know that… Y-you don't think they just decided to clone him do you?"

No, Mew never did tell any of the legendaries, excluding Arceus, what Team Plasma intended, it was too personal, and not her story to tell; the point was that Mewtwo was currently their prisoner and he had to be found, that was the only thing they had to concern themselves with. But what Meloetta was thinking, that was also one of Mew's worst fears of her brother's fate. "All the more reason to keep searching…" was all she said before turning away and continuing west.

The tears began to fall freely from Mew's eyes as her body trembled in anger and fear. How could she have bee so stupid! So _blind_! Mewtwo had gone from the rational thinker she knew him to be, to being a love struck and happy fool! And it happened so quickly that it made Mew's head spin, but she was so happy for her brother, to finally see him smile so care-freely that she didn't even think to see if Naiya was actually _using_ him! The first day Mew met Naiya, Mew was so trusting of Naiya and sure of herself—

That gave Mew pause, _I trusted her right away. I wasn't even suspicious! _Even though she knew the picture now, frowning, Mew began to put a few more puzzle pieces together, _But wait…I was! The suspicion just wasn't in me any more. _Naiya_ was shy. _Naiya _was suspicious…of _me! Fur bristling, Mew clenched her tiny fist and snarled through her teeth, _'Water Nymph' my tail! That damned _SIREN!_ She played us both for fools!_ Mew yowled out in frustration for about the thousandth time in the past two months.

"_MEW!"_

Mew froze. It was Arceus, he was hovering next to her, the afternoon sun reflecting brilliantly off the golden extrusions at his abdomen. She turned to him and began her hasty report so she could quickly continue searching, "Only three bases left, nothing in Undella Bay—"

"That is not why I am here Mew, I already heard all that from Victini," Arceus cut her off, "He seemed overly concerned about you during his report, so I thought it about time for me to check on you. And I must say, I have never seen you in such a state."

Mew's head and tail drooped and she sniffled as shame came over her. She's supposed to hold up this perfect and "regal" image as a legendary, but here she was, looking no better than a Glameow dragged backwards by it's tail through a Rattata's warren. "Arceus…I _can't_ lose him…" she said quietly. Arceus was about to speak but Mew hastily continued, "I _know_ I might already be too late! I _know_ that! I don't need to hear it over and over again! But I will not just abandon the search for him and leave his body to be further defiled by Team Plasma! Nor will I allow an innocent kitten to suffer the same fate!"

Arceus stayed silent staring at Mew, _She cares greatly about this clone…she would not if he did not have a true soul…_ It made Arceus begin to question his initial assumption about Mewtwo. When he first met Mewtwo, he could sense something different about him, and finding out about him being a human creation made Arceus feel insulted, and hearing about New Island sealed his belief that man-made pokemon were soulless creatures. But now… he wasn't so sure.

"Only three left?" Arceus asked.

Mew nodded and pointed to the west, "Yes, there's one just a mile over—"

_BOOM!_

Mew and Arceus both watched in astonishment and horror when an explosion came from the very direction Mew was pointing, raising now from the forest in an ever-growing mushroom cloud. In that same instant Mew felt a very strong and very familiar psychic presence in her senses; one that gave her both relief…and despair.

_No, I'm too late_, Mew thought as she shot through the air towards the destruction.

Arceus followed silently; Mew had thrown caution to the wind, so now was the worst time to leave her on her own, even if her "brother" had now somehow escaped without aid.

Arceus set down next to Mew amidst the flames and destruction of a small ruined building—undoubtedly, there was much more to the base underground, as they were in a shallow crater that resulted from a collapse of the structure below. Mew was calling out to him psychically, turning her head left and right as Mewtwo's psychic signature seemed to be flitting all over the place. Arceus immediately turned on the spot, on the defensive, as a blur shot by his peripheral vision, followed by a strong gust of wind.

"That was him!" Mew exclaimed.

"I barely saw that." Arceus said, "Is he normally this fast?"

Mew was silent for a moment, confused, "No, he's not."

Suddenly the blur showed up again and stopped in front of Arceus and Mew, it's back turned to them. It was definitely Mewtwo, the psychic signature was the same, but the body was very different; he was shorter and smaller, his two necks had merged into one, there was a strange growth reaching from one ear, around the head, and to the other ear, but that wasn't the strangest part, Mewtwo's tail was gone, and instead, there was a long purple appendage having grown from the back of his head and curling at the tip.

"Mew," Arceus whispered to her, "Astonishing as it is that Mewtwo has achieved Mega Evolution, I do not think _she_ is in control."

_She?_ Mew thought. She shook her head, that wasn't important at the moment. Right now, even though Mewtwo was now out of Team Plasma's clutches, she still needed help.

"Mewtwo?" Mew said quietly, so as not to startle her. Mewtwo slowly began to turn towards Mew, "Can you hear me?"

Arceus knew however that while Mewtwo heard Mew's voice, the words were not registering in her mind. The look in Mewtwo's eyes spoke volumes, rage and hatred, but having lost it's meaning, it's target, it's origin, just pure aggression, ready to lash out at _anything_. Arceus had assumed before that when humans created a pokemon, they could not give it it's own true soul, and he did not realize until this very moment that Mewtwo _did_ in fact have a true soul, because right now, it was not present.

* * *

_Three and a half years ago (4 months before Genesect)_

Anything that moved was an enemy. Why would a friend be in a place like this, unless they themselves were an enemy? The red haze in Mewtwo's vision blocked out the faces, and muffled the voices, the screams.

Everything seemed to be moving in slow motion, yet happening so fast at the same time. But that didn't matter to Mewtwo as she flew around the remains of the Team Plasma base, blasting though walls, and floors, finally reaching the surface, and searching for any who were _unfortunate _enough to escape the destruction, and a rapid end. She would make sure nothing, and no one remained as evidence of what has transpired here.

Mewtwo paused in her flight, she could sense two others having just approached the base, and they were standing right behind her. She heard a voice come from one of them, and turned slowly. Mewtwo immediately decided they must be dealt with quickly. One enemy was small, and the other was large. _Attack the small one first_, it would be a nuisance to Mewtwo while she was fighting the large one, which must be finished off quickly.

Mewtwo began to charge her powers, and saw as the small opponent stiffened, a feeling of helplessness coming from it, _Good, _Mewtwo thought, then shot towards it, too fast for either enemy to react, knocking the small enemy to the side and immediately turning to the large enemy, preparing to unleash all the charged power on it.

The large one turned out to be a Dark type, so when Mewtwo launched the bolt of Psychic energy at it, it did nothing. That infuriated Mewtwo, she turned to the wreckage, picked up a large slab of metal, and turned back to the large enemy, preparing to launch it.

But something held her back; something was pulling against her on the metal. _The small one__—__a psychic_, Mewtwo turned once again to the small opponent—which was hovering in the air just a few yards away—and launched a bolt of psychic energy at it. It couldn't block the bolt and effectively stop the metal at the same time, but it stubbornly and foolishly refused to drop it's hold on the metal slab, and took the full force of the bolt, effectively blowing it out of the wreckage of what was left of the Team Plasma base.

Mewtwo felt the other force on the metal release it's grip and turned to the large enemy once more. But it seemed to have gotten all the time it needed. The large enemy had reared up on it's hind legs and suddenly slammed it's front hooves into the ground with a shout, "_PEACE!"_

Mewtwo felt herself get blown backwards, and landed hard on the ground just outside the wreckage, and right next to the small ene— _Wait…Mew!?_ she suddenly thought.

The red haze of anger had blown away from Mewtwo's field of vision, like dust from a powerful fan, and with it, Mewtwo felt her body transform back into her regular form, with the weight on the back of her head gone, and her tail back where it belongs. Mewtwo lied on the ground next to her sister. Suddenly realizing it was her that she was attacking, regret stabbed at her heart.

"Mew," Mewtwo forced out, shifting closer to her, "Wake up… please." She placed a hand on Mew's tiny body, trying to rouse her.

"Hhnn?" Mew moaned as she slowly blinked open her eyes; she tried to sit up but gasped in pain and relaxed again, "Gosh that smarts. When did you get so powerful?" she huffs at Mewtwo.

Mewtwo breathed a sigh of relief. Then her memories came back to her, and tears began to well in her eyes, tears of both anger and grief.

"Mewtwo?" Mew asked, concerned. Mewtwo started forcing herself to her feet, and picked Mew up, gingerly cradling her in her arms, "H-hey, what's wrong?"

"Naiya," Mewtwo seethed through her teeth, "My tears…her grief…her curse…she's still alive."

A voice interrupted them, "How are you able to hold in so much rage?"

Mewtwo looked up and realised her other opponent had been Arceus, the only regret she felt towards attacking him was that none of the attacks really landed, due to temporarily becoming a Dark type to evade Mewtwo's psychic attacks.

"Thought you got rid of it all, did you?" Mewtwo spat at him, "One mighty roar from your _righteous _self?"

Arceus did not physically react, but nor did he seem to be able to form a response. Mewtwo snorted resentfully before stalking forward, passing Arceus, and back towards the burning wreckage of what was left of the Team Plasma base.

"Where are you going?" Arceus asked looking back at Mewtwo, "There's nothing left for you there."

"Naiya is still alive, I do not want her curse for a moment longer," Mewtwo replied over her shoulder, before suddenly turning to face Arceus again, "Strange isn't it? How if…the Naiya that _I_ knew was real…and if I knew she was an empath then…I would've bore her pain _willingly_, if only to spare her some of the agony that she has suffered repeatedly!"

Mew's eyes widened at that confession as she looked up at Mewtwo, and her heart broke for her. She lifted out of Mewtwo's arms and levitated in front of her face, "Mewtwo—"

"What does it matter though?" Mewtwo cut her off and turned away, "Any time her curse came up, it was probably the punishment for disobedient grunts. I need to find her," Mewtwo finished as she began to scan the wreckage.

Mew turned to Arceus questioningly, and he shook his head in response before walking past Mewtwo, seeming to know exactly where he was going. Mewtwo realized this and followed Arceus before they stopped on a large concrete slab lying flat on the ground.

Mewtwo could sense as Arceus began to use his powers to lift something buried from deep underground. She knew what it was before it reached the earth's surface, Naiya. Mewtwo watched silently as Naiya's body phased effortlessly past the concrete and rested on the surface. Mewtwo slowly kneeled down and gently lifted Naiya with one arm under her shoulders. One of her legs was twisted at an odd angle, there was a puncture wound piercing through her left side, her chest was caved in and the plate on it had broken and was now lopped to one side, dangling horrifically by the skin—Mewtwo forced down the bile that had begun to rise in her throat. Looking at her arms, Mewtwo noticed they were all but destroyed, most likely in the instinctive attempt to protect her face, which had a few scratches, but was otherwise unscathed.

_She's dead…just as I said she'd be if…_ Mewtwo couldn't bear finishing that thought. Looking at her face, the minor scrape wounds on her cheeks, Mewtwo felt as the last of her anger melted away, only to be replaced with confusion, _Why do I still feel her grief?_

"The tears you shed are not hers, Mewtwo…" Arceus said quietly, sensing Mewtwo's confusion.

"Just what are you insinuating?" Mewtwo hissed through her teeth, not taking her eyes off Naiya, "That I actually gave a damn for someone so loyal to Team Plasma?" _Loyal to a fault…_ she thought miserably, _Such is a Gardevoir's nature._

"Mewtwo—" Arceus started, but Mewtwo had suddenly vanished, teleporting away, taking Naiya's body with him.

* * *

"I buried her back in Lostlorn, in the area where…" Mewtwo couldn't finish that sentence; he was having a hard enough time keeping it together as it is. The weight on his shoulders was crushing him and constricting around his throat.

"Where your den was…" Misty finished quietly.

Mewtwo tried then to divert the subject, "Arceus himself, does not know where Mega Evolution came from, but he is able to craft the stones which assist in controlling them. And over time, I did learn to keep control," he said, thinking about the two stones now sitting in a box merely collecting dust on the dresser.

Unfortunately Misty noticed the attempted dodge, "Mewtwo—"

"As you well know, I was rather cold to Ash during the Genesect event. Naiya's betrayal made me question even the closest friendships I had, and so I rejected everything and everyone I once knew. If it weren't for Ash, restoring my faith later on, I do not know where I'd be right now." Mewtwo then decided it was time to wrap up the story quickly before he collapsed under the weight on his shoulders, "Arceus was right, I was mourning for her, I was mourning for _Gardevoir_, not Naiya. But that's it. That's the story. I was six years old and…s-so naïve."

"Mewtwo…it wasn't your fault…" Misty said quietly.

He did not expect that. Mewtwo tensed, and looked sharply up at Misty. He couldn't help but scowl at what she said, "Wasn't my fault? How can you say that! What kind of person kills others because of a mere insult? Unless they themselves were a monster."

Misty flinched, before stubbornly returning his gaze, "You…_are not_…a monster."

"Aren't I?" He asked desperately, "I could've used that newfound power to simply escape! To flee! Instead I attacked them, out of anger and revenge once again!I destroyed an entire building, killing everyone in it, out of spite _once again!_" Mewtwo exclaimed, growing frustrated. His vision blurring, Mewtwo felt his eyes fill with tears and it took everything he had in him to not let them fall, "Only a monster would kill someone they used to love, and I did just that, _I _made the decision! I killed her! I _killed_—_"_

Mewtwo's breath caught in his throat. He _never_ said that out loud before, he always held back that one truth, because he knew what would happen if he let that slip. Now, after three years of holding back, he could no longer.

As the first tear began to fall, Mewtwo stood to make a hasty retreat, but Misty seemed to expect this. She was already in front of him, blocking his path, urging him to sit back down. He had no more strength to resist, the crushing weight on his shoulders was too much, and he slumped back down on the couch, his tail trailing limply off the couch and wrapping around his feet.

Misty stayed standing in front of him, and he felt her arms wrap around him in an embrace; one hand rubbing his back and the other up by the back of his head, stroking the top of his secondary neck in a soothing manner. As Mewtwo's breath grew increasingly shaky, and his tears began to fall relentlessly, Misty did not make any attempt at any soothing shushing noises; to her, Mewtwo was finally letting out what he had bottled up for so long, and Misty had no intention to stop him, to help him dam up these tears again.

Eventually, when Mewtwo began to relax, Misty finally convinced him to lie down on the couch, rather than let him retreat into his room. Misty didn't want him to be alone right now; she even pulled out the foot-rests of the couch so he could curl up comfortably.

When Mewtwo finally seemed to be falling asleep, Misty stood to head for the kitchen to brew a pot of coffee, but not before Mewtwo spoke up once more.

"_How did I come to be so pathetic…?"_ he asked tiredly. That startled Misty, and she couldn't think of any way to respond, so Mewtwo clarified, "_You know of what I did while I was in Team Rocket, the crimes I committed—poaching, torture, murder, to traitorous grunts, spies, scientists, and innocent people and pokemon—all without shedding a tear for them even now. So why now? And why for _her_?"_

_Because you loved her_, Misty thought, too choked up to voice it.

"_I loved a lie,"_ Mewtwo responded, "_A beautiful, beautiful lie…"_

Misty reached down to stroke Mewtwo's cheek as he closed his eyes, and he seemed to finally drift off to sleep. Then she straightened and headed to the kitchen.

* * *

Mew was sitting on the kitchen counter next to the coffee pot, just out of sight of the two conversing in the living room, and staring sadly at the cupboards on the opposite wall. She heard Mewtwo's outburst, then listened as he cried—which was heart wrenching for her—and finally sighed in relief as he calmed down.

She looked up as Misty entered the kitchen. She was too tired to notice Mew's presence, but somehow, Misty still reached out to stroke Mew's ears absentmindedly as she approached the coffee pot.

Mew rolled her eyes. No way in hell was she letting Misty stay awake any longer; if her math was right, Misty had been up for almost 27 hours. Mew watched as Misty filled the coffee brewer with water and coffee grounds, then subtly teleported the grounds back into the container and the water down the drain.

When Misty hit the start button, a look of confusion crossed her face when nothing happened, only intensifying when she examined the brewer to find it empty of the water and grounds that she just put in. Then she jumped, covering her mouth to stifle a shriek when she _finally_ realized Mew was sitting right next to the brewer. Mew rolled her eyes again.

"How long have you been sitting there?" Misty whispered in shock.

In answer Mew looked sadly towards the living room.

"Long enough," Misty translated, following Mew's gaze, her eyes beginning to shimmer, "In his ten years, he's experienced too much pain for a lifetime…"

Mew found herself agreeing with Misty; regardless of which lifetime she was referring to, it was too much in too short of a time, and no one, no matter how long they could live, deserved that.

Mew looked back at Misty and began to gesture towards one of the spare bedrooms. "But someone's gotta stay awake," Misty protested, "to keep an eye out for intruders; Team Rocket is undoubtedly still looking for Vesta."

Mew put her paws on her hips and gave Misty a mixed look of annoyance and exasperation. _Am I invisible to her? _she thought.

Misty got the message, "Fiiiiiinne," she yawned, "you win."

After escorting Misty to the bedroom across from Mewtwo's, Mew floated into the living room to find her brother gazing at her blearily through squinted eyes, "Thank you, Mew," he said as she set down by his head, "I didn't think I could convince her."

"And now it's your turn," Mew said, purring gently, as she began to lick Mewtwo's forehead in long soothing strokes, "You're gonna have a busy day with the Council tomorrow. You need your rest."

Mewtwo's eyes slowly blinked closed as he let Mew's purrs lull him to sleep; an ever-so-soft one starting in his chest in response to hers. Mew listened for his breathing to slow and become even as he finally fell asleep, "Baby steps, little brother," she whispered to him, before looking out the window to watch as the sun began to rise.


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter 20

Vesta woke up in her room to the sun's rays shining in her eyes. She glanced over at the clock on the nightstand and saw it was 8:26AM. _Mewtwo must've gone to bed by now_, she thought, disappointed; she had a whole list of questions for him and couldn't finish it last night, _Misty should be awake now though, maybe she can answer a few._

With that in mind, Vesta sat up, got out of the very warm bed and began to get dressed in the clothes Mewtwo lent to her, just a plain gray T-shirt and black sweatpants. Thankfully there was a thermostat for this room, and the temperature was set pretty high so that Vesta could handle such light clothing; she was still a little hypothermic. That reminded her to check her temperature; the thermometer was in the kitchen. She put on a thick sweater, opened the door and left the warm room.

In the living room, she found an odd sight, Mewtwo was curled up on the couch, sleeping, _He has four bedrooms in this house, why doesn't he use one?_ Then, when she looked up to look out the window at the mountain, she saw a silhouette sitting on the windowsill, a small, pink kitten, with a long, thin tail, staring at her with big, blue eyes. Appearances can be deceiving though, chances were that was no kitten; it was probably older than most legendary pokemon.

_Mew?_ Vesta mouthed to the kitten, and it nodded affirmation. Vesta then tapped her head before gesturing to Mewtwo, _Can you read my mind? I don't want to wake him up,_ Mew nodded again, _Well, I'm Vesta. Nice to meet you. _Vesta glanced around the room wondering where Misty was, before giving up and heading to the kitchen. Mew levitated into the air to follow.

By the time Mew had entered, Vesta had just put the thermometer in her mouth and was staring contemplatively at the cupboards, _Do you think Mewtwo would mind if I made myself some breakfast?_ Mew shook her head, so Vesta opened the cupboard to look at the cereals. She couldn't come to any decision on one, mainly because most of them were about as grainy as the slop Team Rocket fed them. Thinking about the two others she left behind made her heart twinge with worry and regret, _Jack, Thor…hang in there guys…_

The thermometer beeped, announcing it was done taking the measurement, so Vesta pulled it out, _115°F, almost there_— Suddenly the thermometer started beeping _loudly_—more like _blaring_. Vesta's eyes widened in surprise and she dropped the thermometer onto the counter. Mew then took action and used her psychic powers to shatter the thermometer; all that remained was a _quiet_ pile of junk. Mew quickly peeked into the living room to make sure the noise didn't wake Mewtwo up, thankfully it didn't. _He's not gonna be mad is he?_ Vesta asked when Mew returned to her side, Mew just giggled in response, Vesta narrowed her eyes, _Guess I don't have to worry about it anyways, _I'm_ not the one who broke it._ Mew stopped giggling and feigned offense, Vesta smirked at Mew's act.

Vesta had eventually settled on cooking up the breakfast sausages and hashbrowns she found in the freezer—it was too tempting and might very well be considered gourmet after what she had to endure in Team Rocket—she was worried that the smell would wake Mewtwo, but Mew reassured her by putting up a Light Screen at the entrances to the kitchen. Vesta knew she and Mew would get along great.

* * *

By 3:00PM Mewtwo had woken up; Misty was still in heavy sleep-dept at the time so she didn't wake till 6:00. When Mewtwo entered the kitchen to see his decimated thermometer on the counter, he honestly wasn't surprised. It didn't matter much anyways, it was an ordinary drugstore thermometer with a few easy alterations—easy to him, anyways. Misty had a more worthwhile reaction for Mew upon hearing of the thermometer's fate; a loud sigh of relief and "Thank God!" While Vesta and Mew were laughing, it even brought a smirk to Mewtwo's face.

Misty and Mew were noticeably casting Mewtwo concerned glances throughout the afternoon. For their peace of mind, he kept giving subtle nods letting them know that he was alright, and truth be told, he really was feeling better; the crushing weight he felt on his shoulders throughout last night, had mysteriously fallen off. That realization brought to mind one of the many curious phrases that humans have come up with: Sometimes things have to get worse before they can get better. He couldn't understand why things would have to get worse in the first place, other than putting oneself at their lowest point so the only way to go after that is up, but still, was it really necessary?

On another note, Vesta was handling being near two legendaries at the same time rather well; the real test however was going to be when there are _seventeen_ more added to the list. They were on their way now to the Hall of Origin, once Misty and Vesta had had donned their winter gear, Mewtwo, in his cloak, teleported Vesta, Mew, Misty and himself inside Cerulean Cave, far enough inside, that Vesta couldn't see the city in the distance, but also far enough away from the portal so that she could start steeling herself.

"So… who are we going to meet?" Vesta asked, bundling into her thick jacket as they began walking, their footsteps echoing along the cavern. Mew floated on ahead, summoning a ball of light around her to light the way.

"It's not safe yet for me to answer," Mewtwo said.

Vesta frowned and looked down the corridor.

"Don't worry too much about it," Misty said, placing a hand on her shoulder reassuringly, "It's not that they don't trust you, they just can't afford to take any risks."

"I'll tell you when we get to where we need to go." Mewtwo said.

"Which is…?" Vesta prompted.

"I can't tell you that yet either."

Vesta scoffed, annoyed. Giving up on that topic, she decided to change the subject, "When did you learn to speak English?"

Mewtwo cocked an eyebrow at her, "I could speak English as early as I remember. I must have learned the language subconsciously while I was still in the cloning chamber."

"I heard that you always preferred telepathy, but were you always able to speak English vocally?"

Mew giggled from up ahead and Mewtwo glared at her, then he turned to Vesta, "You seem to know quite a bit about me," he said, "considering that all you claimed to have heard were mere 'whispers'."

Vesta hesitated, "Er…yeah, I'll admit, I was lying then," that much was obvious to Mewtwo already though, she'd given him the impression last night that she knew more about him than she claimed; not the best liar, "But you were still 'Matthew' to me then, I didn't realize you actually _were_ Mewtwo at the time. I promise, I'll explain everything when I am speaking to whomever we are going to meet."

They continued on in silence before Vesta prompted the question again, "So…? Were you always able to speak English vocally?"

Mewtwo sighed, "No, I was not. I had finished traveling around Hoenn about six years back and I wasn't quite ready to continue on to Sinnoh. I grew bored during that time I took as a break, so I gave it a try."

"Was it difficult? How long did it take?"

"Lots of concentration, an endless amount of mews and an intense migraine," Mewtwo answered, and Mew looked back at him with a smirk on her face; she remembered Mewtwo talking to himself, and watching his frustration every time he stumbled back into the 'Mew' dialect, "But within the month I had gotten the hang of it."

"'Mews'?" Vesta said confusedly, "Not 'Mewtwos'?"

"'Mewtwo' was the name the scientists gave me," Mewtwo explained, "It has no connection to the genetic aspects of the pokemon languages."

"Right…that makes sense," Vesta said thoughtfully, "I mean…I guess by my logic, had they named you something like 'Marcus'—"

Mew lost it, and she burst out laughing. In response, Mewtwo launched a Shadow Ball at her—eliciting a yelp from Vesta—and then summoned a ball of light to float ahead of them when Mew teleported away. He then glared back at Misty daringly to find her trying her best to hold back her snickering.

When Vesta regained her composure, she thankfully changed the subject again as they continued along the tunnel, "So, just how did you manage to buy a house?" Mewtwo looked at her curiously as she continued, "I mean, I assume you disguised yourself in your human form when you needed to close the deal, and the name 'Matthew' is on the deed, but where did you get the _money_?"

Mewtwo opened his cloak, pulled out the card tucked into the inner pocket, and handed it to Vesta. She held it close to examine but upon finding nothing unusual, "Just an ordinary credit card. So what? You're a hacker? Identity theft?"

"Hacker, yes. Identity theft, no, though I could pull that off if I really wanted to," Mewtwo stated nonchalantly.

"Please don't," Misty said.

Mewtwo smirked, "That card was made to look and work just like any other, except it's tapped into Team Rocket's funds," Vesta's eyes widened like saucers, "Team Rocket tracks most of the cards that they make…except for one; now can you tell me who in Team Rocket no other member would have any business tracking financially?"

"You made a copy of Giovanni's card…" On top of the awe and surprise, Vesta's eyes began to take on a mischievous glint, Mewtwo could already see the possibilities flying through her head, "May I borrow this for a day? Just one day?"

Mewtwo promptly took back the card, "The 'spite-spending' that I am doing for my house and other necessities, doesn't even put a noticeable scratch in Giovanni's account. I'd rather keep it that way."

_For now…_ Vesta thought, and Mewtwo heard it. She was vindictive to Team Rocket, no doubt about that. Mewtwo remembered when he was like that—when the feelings were still so raw—then having all that spite come back with a vengeance once he'd gotten the card. But he knew that if he made all that money disappear in one day, Giovanni would get it all back just as easily, then he'd change the card and undergo an extreme investigation for the culprit. And if Mewtwo was stupid enough to do it again—_highly_ unlikely—he would have to go through the headache of copying the card again, and make sure there were no trackers placed on it the second time around. Then it would be that constant game of tug-of-war until eventually when Mewtwo knew he would get reckless and make a fatal mistake. No, this way was safest, and if he ever planned to do something as dangerous bringing Team Rocket to the ground, he'd have to do it from the inside.

"Well, we're here," Misty said.

Mewtwo looked up to see the familiar rock wall blocking his path. Before Vesta could speak out in confusion about the seemingly dead end, Mewtwo used his telekinesis to move the rocks aside, forming an opening to reveal the portal on the other side.

"Too bad, I can't go in with you two," Misty informed Vesta, "No Visitor's Pass," she added with a smirk.

"Thank you for everything Misty, though, maybe it's best you return home now," Mewtwo suggested, "You've been away from the gym for a while. If there are still spies hanging around, you don't want them getting suspicious of you."

"Yeah," Misty said, nodding in agreement, "Besides, I got travel plans to make. Brock and I are going to visit Ash in Alola."

That piqued Mewtwo's interest, "How is he by the way?" he asked.

"As hopelessly_ dense_ as ever," Misty said, crossing her arms and rolling her eyes, "other than that, not sure. That's why we're going to visit him. See you around," she said, waving goodbye as Mewtwo teleported her back to the cave entrance; he wasn't going to make her walk back through the dark cavern on her own.

"Ready?" Mewtwo asked as he turned back to Vesta, she nodded apprehensively, "Then brace yourself; first time through a portal is the worst."

Vesta followed him through the portal and entered the main corridor of the Hall of Origin. She seemed to stumble on her way through, so Mewtwo waited while she regained her footing. Bracing herself on her knees, she took a few breaths, "Oooohhhh, that is so much worse than teleporting," she complained, "My head is spinning and my legs feel like they have turned to jelly."

There was a slight giggle from up ahead as Mew approached from farther along the corridor. That made Vesta look up and notice her surroundings, "Wow…" she said breathlessly, "This place is…" she couldn't find a word to accurately describe it.

"Welcome to the Hall of Origin," Mew said.

Vesta's gaze quickly shot to Mew, "Hey! How can I understand you all of a sudden?" she exclaimed.

"That's Arceus' doing," Mewtwo explained, "Anyone can understand anyone in this place, no matter what language they speak. You reported ahead I presume?" he asked, looking to Mew.

"Yes, but they're not ready yet," Mew answered, "A couple council members are still on their way, shouldn't be too long though."

"In that case, how about a tour?" Mewtwo asked Vesta.

"Are you kidding?!" Vesta asked excitedly, "How many people ever actually get to see the _Hall of Origin._ I didn't even think this place was real!"

"You're the first human to set foot here," Mew said. As if Vesta didn't already look like she was going to faint from excitement. That actually made Mewtwo feel sorry for the girl though. Her mood was going to make a rapid 180 the moment she begins speaking with the Council. But, while she had this moment now, she may as well make the most of it.

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**A/N: Just wanted to point out something that came to mind while writing this chapter. It's a minor thing but yes, I do believe that pokemon are separated into the carnivore/omnivore/herbivore/scavenger groups, and yes, I do believe that humans and certain pokemon hunt and eat the meat of other pokemon. I admit, the thought kinda disturbs even me, but it's not like the pokemon company haven't been subtly hinting towards it (Namely a few buffet scenes). But less obvious, and more from my Biology classes in highschool, is that a lot of pokemon have claws and fangs (Pikachu proudly showing his in a yawn in the first episode). Fangs, for example, would not have developed if every pokemon was a herbivore.**

**I just wanted to point that out in case anyone questioned why I would put something like that in my fic. I wont flaunt it, or specify anything, it just didn't sit right with me to pretend that all they ever eat is tofu.**


	21. Chapter 21

Chapter 21

Mewtwo decided to take Vesta down the corridor designated to the Kanto Trio. There, she was able to look at all the major events in their past recorded on the stone walls. Considering the purpose of the Kanto Trio, most of the recordings were similar; the more personal and less world threatening events concerning any of the legendary pokemon were recorded inside the private sanctuaries located at the end of their respective corridors.

Articuno, Zapdos and Moltres are each keystone species united to maintain balance in the ocean's behavior, and when one member was out of the picture, chaos usually ensues, and Lugia would have to step in until the missing member was found and returned, or…replaced. Ash was involved in the most recent event and therefore recorded on the most recent addition in the corridor of the Kanto Trio.

Mewtwo noticed early on that Ash had been recorded in new additions down a couple of the corridors, or even in the few private sanctuaries that he was allowed into at one time or another. Then he watched as more and more Legendary pokemon recorded their encounters with the up and coming "Chosen One". What Ash was chosen for, Arceus would not say, and any time traveling pokemon were forbidden to speak of it, for doing so could set the future along one of it's many paths, or change it altogether—for better or worse, no one knew, and nor dared to risk it. It always started the same however, the pattern of one particular human coincidentally crossing paths with numerous Legendary pokemon, all in preparation for one final act of heroism. The fate of the Chosen One, two possibilities: sacrifice to restore the world's peace, or survival, to enjoy the peaceful world they were able to restore. Mewtwo prayed that for Ash it would be the latter; he deserved as much. What gave Mewtwo hope for that result was that Ash always had a remarkable habit of beating the odds—

"Mewtwoooo?" Vesta asked, waving her hand in front of his face, "Hey! Earth to Mewtwo!"

"Technically we are not on Earth at this present moment," Mewtwo said casually, "it's just a similar atmosphere in this dimension."

Vesta choked on whatever words she was going to say next.

"Nice recovery, Space Cadet," Mew joked. Mewtwo glared at her and she threw up her paws in surrender, "H-hey! Misty started that one, s-she even said it right in front of you during one of your episodes."

"You…do that often?" Vesta asked.

Mewtwo ignored the question, "What was it you needed to ask me?"

"Oh…um," she was having trouble recalling her words, "Well, I was just wondering where _your_ corridor is."

Mewtwo hesitated, he hadn't been down his and Mew's corridor since Arceus first returned, but it was up to date with all the major events in his life; his section of the private sanctuary was yet to be updated though—if he felt it necessary.

"If Giovanni remembers me then I am sure you've already been informed of what transpired on Mount Quena," Mewtwo began as he lead the way to his and Mew's corridor, "However, I do not think anyone in Team Rocket—save for a certain trio—is aware of the fact that I returned to New Island for a time."

"Oh they are aware of that," Vesta started, and Mewtwo's heart jumped to his throat, "But all they know is that you made the lab disappear from the island."

As Mewtwo breathed a sigh of relief, Mew jumped in, "Actually, the lab's disappearance was my doing. Called in a favor to Palkia, and now that laboratory sits in a dimensional air-pocket."

Vesta's brow furrowed, "I'm sorry, a what?"

"Put it this way," Mewtwo began to explain, "If you enter a small enough dimensional air-pocket with nothing obscuring it's borders, you'll have an endless mirrored room effect. Also, without any physical obstructions, sound would echo and amplify to extreme levels. So, in the case of your basic dimensional air-pocket it is ideal—for the sake of your eyes, ears, and sanity—for the said air-pocket to be at least as large as Pallet Town with, for example, a forest serving as a border if you plan on living in it. That should give you an idea of how large a basic air-pocket should be in comparison to it's inhabitants."

"Are we in an air-pocket right now?" Vesta asked.

"Yes, but it's one of the more complex ones—if not the most. It'll just give me a headache to explain, so it'd be better if I showed you," Mewtwo said, "Anyways…"

They'd just stopped at Mew and Mewtwo's corridor; it was near the end of the hall towards the council chamber. Arceus' corridor was, of course, the first one on the right starting from the council chamber, and the Creation Trio—Dialga, Palkia, and Giratina—being the first one on the left. Then came Mew and Mewtwo's on the right and the Lake Guardians—Kyogre, Groudon and Rayquaza—on the left.

Mewtwo had been involved in one world threatening major event thus far—mainly because he was the cause of it—but Mew had been involved in many, so the corridor was rather long. Vesta looked at all the carvings in awe, examining both sides of the corridor and seeing Mew's life story, from the day that she was born, to the day she first met Mewtwo. That was where Mew and Mewtwo shared the task of recording the events of New Island, and would most likely be working together on future recordings, as they would most likely both be involved together in resolving future calamities.

As Vesta examined the images that Mew and Mewtwo carved into the walls, a number of emotions crossed her face; amazement, fear, sadness, and relief. It was then that Mewtwo knew she'd reached the end of the events on New Island, "You two…fought each other," she said quietly, then looked nervously at Mewtwo, "A-and you tried to—."

"Yes," Mewtwo confirmed, avoiding eye contact.

"But before you say anything," Mew said hurriedly, "Mewtwo is definitely _not_ the first legendary pokemon who held a grudge against humans, and already he isn't the last either."

"That's not as reassuring as you think it sounds Mew," Mewtwo said.

"It's okay," Vesta said, "These sorts of events were mentioned many times in myths and histories. I suppose I just find it unsettling to know that some of these events have happened so recently, and that I didn't even notice…Giovanni really did a number on you..."

Vesta fell silent and examined the carvings again before looking at the end of the hall, where a set of doors were, "What's beyond there?"

"Air-pocket in an air-pocket?" Mew attempted to explain.

"Oh, don't say it like that, Mew, please," Mewtwo said exasperatedly, as he immediately lifted his hands to his head and rubbed at his eyes. Before he could let Mew make another awful attempt at explaining the sanctuaries, he walked over to the doors and opened them, allowing Vesta to look inside.

Inside was what appeared to be large jungle oasis; a pond in the center of lush greenery, with one small stream flowing into the pond from an unknown origin, another flowing out to an unknown destination, and thick vines growing up the stone walls bordering the room. There were also a couple of large trees with dense leaves overhead to create a ceiling. Somehow sunlight was still able to leak through and provide light for the room.

A half-second look was all it took for confusion to set in on Vesta's face, "Hold on…How is this room so _wide_? The corridor is sandwiched between two others, do they not have their own room at the end?"

"They do, and somehow the rooms don't overlap," Mewtwo answered as he gestured around the room, "And if you noticed the carvings on the walls, the room only gets larger as more carvings are added to it—the same can be said about the corridor," he continued as he closed the doors again, "Like I said, it makes no sense and any attempt to explain only results in a headache," then, pointing back to the room as he finished, "That however just about sums up the illogical spatial laws of this dimension."

"You know, if Arceus really wanted to, he could've given the Hall just one corridor and sanctuary door," a voice interrupted. Mew, Mewtwo and Vesta all turned to see Moltres walking over to them, "In which case, the recordings on the wall and the sanctuary beyond would depend entirely on which legendary pokemon enters it. However—"

"Just…stop," Mewtwo said, squeezing his eyes shut and shaking his head, he wasn't going to let Moltres continue on the topic of what could possibly happen if two different legendaries entered such a corridor at the same time.

Moltres' eyes glimmered with amusement before turning to Vesta, "You must be Vesta," he said.

Vesta nodded shyly, "And you're Moltres." Moltres nodded and held a wing out to his side, flaring his flaming feathers, "I'd do that too by lighting my hands or something, but I can't quite control it, so I don't think I could contain it to just my hand…"

Moltres nodded in understanding, "No need. I can sense my own fire in you easily." He then looked up at Mewtwo, "They're ready now, I had just been sent to come and get you."

Mewtwo nodded and they followed Moltres back to the large doors to the council chamber. He could tell that the doors were already open, so before they got close enough to see inside, Mewtwo turned to Vesta, "You ready?"

Vesta nodded uncertainly, "As ready as I'll ever be…"

Mewtwo nodded, "Then let's begin."

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**A/N: So? How do you like my image of the Hall of Origin. Reviews please, I love reading them! Also, are my readers looking forward to the next chapter, wher Vesta finally goes to speak in front of the Legendary council? I'll post the next chapter as soon as I finish it!**


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